Child of the storm
by Pippen
Summary: A must read for dbz fans
1. The end is the beggining

Child of the Storm  
  
The End and the Beginning  
  
Chapter 1  
  
A sleek, spherical Saiyan pod broke through the layer of atmosphere that covered the Earth like a warm blanket. Its occupant rested motionless, her body frozen in suspended animation. The stars winked at this new presence and the sun blazed brightly towards the world called Earth. The pod glowed red hot from the friction of penetrating the Earth's atmosphere and with a wailing of air and a storm of static, it crashed into the Pacific Ocean with such force that the water receded from around the point of impact, the land curled up and screamed like a wounded animal. Then all was motionless and silent for an instant, the hissing of steam and evaporating ocean water across the burning hull the only thing audible in the vast crater. Then the apparently seamless hull of the craft began to open letting out an ominous hiss of steam. Arashiko stepped out stretching from the long journey of being cramped in the tiny pod. The Namecks had done their best to reconstruct and repair the Saiyan pod, but their technology was drastically different and the pod was less than maximum comfort.  
  
Arashiko only hoped that he was here, that she had finally found him. The Prince. Her cerulean blue eyes searched the horizon of this strange new planet, the Earth. She rapped her slender tail around her waist and admired the blue sky, which was a great contrast to the yellow brilliance of the skies of Nameck. The gentle wind made her long, blue-black hair trail out, chasing the streamers of the breeze that echoed by. Her body was covered with plates of dark blue and black armor patched together with another kind of armor borrowed from the Dragon Clan on Nameck, it almost looked like the tough plates found on the backs of scarab beetles.  
  
It's not like Nameck, but it is beautiful. Arashiko thought to herself. She could look at the planet later, her first priority was to find the Prince. Years of searching had led up to this moment and she had no time to admire scenery. She closed her eyes and concentrated, remembering the teachings of the Nameck Dragon Clan Elders.  
  
Clear your mind, free your soul, and release all anger. True power can only be felt with one's heart.  
  
She reached out and felt for the powers that resided on the planet, a technique that had taken years to master since her Saiyan race had always relied on technology to seek out the power of others. Arashiko's eyes widened in shock as she felt an immense power, alien but familiar at the same time.  
  
That has to be the Prince!! Only the son of Vegeta could manage such a power level!! She blazed with wild excitement at finally finding him. Wasting no words, she quickly pressed a button on the ship's controls on her forearm. The hull closed in upon itself into a tiny bulb safe from the elements. None could crack the sealed hull; her ship was safe until she returned to it. Arashiko breathed in the crisp air as it began to quiver around her body. Lightening blue streaks of energy crackled along her slender form. With a burst of energy and joy, Arashiko sped off in the direction of where she hoped to find her destiny and he who would decide her future.  
  
Miles pass within the blink of an eye as the Saiyan advanced on her destination, her long journey finally coming to an end. Finally she saw something, a vague form in the mists of the early morning far down below. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw him fully exposed in the early rays of dawn. The mists wrapped around his muscular form and the upward waft of his dark black hair. Cold light illuminated his taut, proud features that bent in extreme focus. His body was tensed into a fighting stance, one hand leveled behind and one in front for defense. Vegeta's coal black eyes were concentrated in front of him towards an unseen opponent.  
  
He is no longer the boy I once knew, but a man! And a handsome man at that! Just like his father... Arashiko flinched as tears gathered in her eyes. Years had passed and her failure still carried a bitter, painful sting. If only I could have gotten to him in time!! Damn Frieza!!! The burden of years came back to weigh upon her heart, never ceasing, never relenting. She was loyal to King Vegeta and she was loyal to his son. No time to cry about it now!! You've seen too much and waited too long to let your emotions take control of you now!! Arashiko scolded herself. Saiyan Warriors don't cry!! She thought harshly as she tore the tears away with her fingers.  
  
Arashiko stopped again as she saw someone else below. It was a tall youth with a slenderl muscular build and light lavender hair. He also possessed the same determined look. The youth was also bent in an offensive fighting stance, mouth wide yelling a terrific battlecry. Arashiko gasped as the young man charged at the Prince, executing a skillful series of quick kicks and punches almost too fast for the naked eye to follow.  
  
He's attacking the Prince!!! Arashiko shouted and thought at the same time, words leading into action as she rushed downward to help the Prince. Vegeta and the youth separated again and took stances. They both jumped back in surprise as Arashiko landed in between them facing the lavender-haired teen. Arashiko focused all her energy to her hands, the blue-white sparkle of power rippling over her whole body and converging at her fingertips. I lost him once, I won't lose him again!! With a cry of fury, she released the energy into a brilliant focused beam that sped towards the youth.  
  
A look of confusion made the youth's eyes widen to their fullest as he shouted out a string of confused words.  
  
Vegeta stared forward at the figure that was illuminated by the blast of energy coming from it, confusion and surprise freezing him momentarily. From his angle he couldn't see the cloaked form, just a wave of long black- blue hair that billowed out behind it and the immense beam that shot out from the figure's fingertips. He rushed forward to stop the being, whoever it was, and stopped dead in his tracks when she turned around. The female was shockingly beautiful, blue eyes diving deep into his own. And she had a tail!!!  
  
She was a Saiyan!!  
  
Torunksa backflipped to the right to dodge the incoming beam, the passing light casting a cold light upon the world of dawn. The beam skimmed by, sending his lavender hair flailing across his face. The strands of energy pulled off from the main beam and burned the skin on his back, sending a tingling sensation through his wrists. Somehow, he had escaped the massive beam unscathed. That was too close for comfort!! He thought as he stood up to try and see the person who threw the beam. The dark shrouded figure advanced slowly towards his father on what seemed like an attack vector. He strainged to see what what happening to his father, but Vegeta was completely in awe of something. Torunksa rushed forward to help him. Surprised by whatever it was, his father wouldn't be able to see an attack coming. Torunksa was ready to rush in with as much force as he could muster when Vegeta held his hand up in the air, halting him with a quick, stern, "Wait!" his eyes turning towards him with hot anger. Trunks stared on as Vegeta allowed the figure to approach him.  
  
Arashiko slowly reached her hands towards Vegeta's stunned face. She could not believe that this was actually happening, that she had finally found him after years of searching and suffering. Was it just another dream or delusion created to torture a desperate mind? Finally, the moment slowed down by the anxiety of years, her hands lay affectionately on his cheeks. The dream was real, fantasy was reality. He is here! Alive and standing before me! Arashiko embraced him tightly as Vegeta tensed, stunned and confused by her unpredictable actions.  
  
"So long! So long..," Arashiko said with charged words, tears streaming down her face, " I've finally found you..."  
  
They stood in the embrace for a few moments, Arashiko quietly crying, and Vegeta dumb-founded by this woman who, out of the blue, decides to cry on his shoulder. Arashiko realized how stupid she must have looked and let go of him.  
  
"Please forgive me, Prince Vegeta!", Arashiko kneeled down in front of him on one knee, " Your majesty, it has been a long time." Arashiko sniffed and shifted her hand over her face, trying to get rid of the embarrassing tears.  
  
Vegeta stood looking down at her, one eyebrow cocked in puzzlement. "Who are you?"  
  
Arashiko took a deep breath to regain her composure and began, "I am Arashiko of the Saiyan Elite Royal Guard, First Class. I served under the High King of Vegeta, your father. We have met before, when you were younger, much younger."  
  
A flash of remembrance hit Vegeta, he had seen her before!! He could only remember vague images of her in the background of the royal entourage. She had been a soldier and a personal bodyguard for his father, a soldier of the Planetkiller forces, and ally of himself when he was very young, only a preteen. So many memories... most of them bad.  
  
Arashiko pulled something out of her cape, a small trinket which she had waited an eternity to give to the last Prince of Vegeta, her King. "The king is gone, but he lives on in you." she handed him the necklace, its blue sheen bright in the morning darkness. A complicated but beautiful design radiated from the center of the pendant. Vegeta held it in his hand. He fell to his knees overcome with emotion and memories when he recognized what it was. The amulet of the Royal House. Once it had brilliantly shined upon his father's breast, a symbol of Saiyan might and pride. Spider web fractures ran from its center as if the amulet had been crushed by someone and then skillfully pieced back together with great care and precision, a job that had surely been time consuming.  
  
Arashiko stared at him, full of pride and profound happiness.  
  
"You are Prince no more, you are the King."  
  
Torunksa ran to Vegeta's side. "What's wrong, father?"  
  
Arashiko gasped silently. Father?!?! He's his father??! Arashiko was shocked again when she noticed something else, he had no tail!! What has happened since I last saw him?  
  
Vegeta clenched the amulet in his hand tightly, holding it up to his forehead. The quiet howl of the wind echoed around them and a long moment of silence, a moment for the dead, pervaded. Finally Vegeta's solemn voice broke the placid stillness.  
  
"Come with me," he said to Arashiko, "This is no place to talk about the past." Vegeta leaped into the air pulling the wind underneath him with invisible power. He took off towards the city. Arashiko nodded and followed him. Torunksa scratched his head in confusion and followed the two.  
  
As their forms streaked the sky, Arashiko stole a glance back at the son of Vegeta. She could see it now, the resemblance was uncanny. He has his father's determined brow, something they both get from their forefather, Vegeta. Arashiko sighed deeply. He has his eyes. She quickly turned away from the youth and stared forward with an angry look on her face. Looking at them reminded her of the past, of King Vegeta and her failure to prevent his murder. Never again!! I swear I will not let it happen again!! I will protect you!!!  
  
* * *  
  
"I have been searching for you for a very long time, your majesty," Arashiko said as she shifted uncomfortably in the alien wooden chairs inside of the strangely confining dwelling, "It has been almost thirty years. I was only seventeen when I served under your father."  
  
Vegeta sat back brooding intently in the chair across from her. Expressions of puzzlement and suspicion crossed his stern face and danced in the void of his dark eyes. Torunksa sat farther away, staring at Arashiko with the glittering eyes of youth. His puerile eyes were azure-blue, like hers.  
  
"How can you look so young after so long a period of time?" Vegeta asked, his voice taking on the harsh tone of a viscous interrogator. He obviously mistrusted her motives and origins and sought to find the loopholes in her story.  
  
"It is a long story, my King, finely tuned with age." Arashiko replied, preparing to tell him the tale of a past that was long and trodden hard. "Permit me, your highness." Arashiko implored him as she gently took his hands and placed them on her temples, "This will help you see."  
  
Vegeta thought of resisting for a second, but then something told him to listen, to see what she wanted him to. Vegeta closed his eyes and cleared his mind. Through physical contact, he could see her memories, feel them. It was an aspect of the Saiyan race that they gained when they became powerful past a certain extent. Vegeta prepared himself as Arashiko took them, as they began....  
  
. . . falling into the past.  
  
. . . falling. The End is in the Beginning.  
  
* * *  
  
Not as far back as childhood, everything was as expected of a Saiyan there. Her entire generation had been raised to be harbingers of destruction, agents of pure strength and energy. But there was something different about Arashiko, something unique. She was not like the other Saiyans who, by the light of the full moon, turned into giant beasts known as Ozaroo who leveled entire planets with merely a gentle sigh. When the full moon shined softly on her, she would not change like the others. She would only change in part, but her power level increased just as much, even more. Others saw it as a birth defect, but she saw it as a gift . . . as did the King. It did not take long for her to come to his attention.  
  
As time slipped past, training and warfare forged her into a warrior of great skill among the Saiyans. Her high birth allower her to, in no time at all, answer the call to be in the Elite, the protectors of the Royal House and the leaders of the Planetkiller forces. These armies were the pride of their people, the forces sent out to clear planets of all life to make ready for sale to the highest bidder. Alongside Arashiko the entire time was her brother Zorn, ever strong and vigilant. Zorn was always there to watch her back in battle. Together they were unbeatable in a fight. She and Zorn were charged with the personal safety of King Vegeta himself. Everything changed one late night when the King called her to his side. A meeting of great secrecy and importance was to take place.  
  
The door shut automatically behind Arashiko as she stepped inside the King's chambers, adorned in her best armor. The white cloak of the Elite emblazoned with the crimson symbol of the royal family draped around her form. Arashiko almost shivered with anticipation. What was this meeting about? Promotion? Did he think she was finally ready to become a commander of the Planetkiller forces? Whatever it was, it was something important, otherwise Zorn wouldn't have been so excited when he told her that the King wanted to see her privately.  
  
King Vegeta sat alone in an ornately designed chair, the last rays of the setting sun reflecting over his stern features. Arashiko's hopes began to fade when she saw his solemn expression. Something was definitely up. She had been around Vegeta long enough to know his sincerely angry facial expression from the harsh expression he normally wore. Vegeta clutched his chin in deep introspection, covering the dark brown beard that outlined his straight and strong chin. His body was calm, but beneath his calm exterior, veins and perfectly formed muscles tenses with anger. Arashiko hesitated, afraid to break his concentration on whatever thoughts preoccupied him now. She finally stepped forward and addressed him formally, crossing her right arm diagonally over her chest in a military salute, "You summoned me, my King?"  
  
"Yes, there is some important business I must discuss with you," Vegeta paused, "It concerns Frieza."  
  
The simple mention of his name was enough to send pangs of anger through her. That damned bastard treated them like they were his playthings!! To him, Saiyan might and pride were just tools to be forged to his will. He used the Saiyans as exterminators, capitalizing on their destructive power for his own good. And what's worse? They couldn't do anything about it!! Frieza was infinitely more powerful than even King Vegeta himself! They had to compromise with him to stay alive.  
  
King Vegeta continued on, his deep voice booming, "It's time to deal with that bastard once and for all." Vegeta balled his fists in anger, "Of all things he chooses to take from us, he can never have my son!!"  
  
Arashiko stood aghast, "The Prince? What!?! Why??!"  
  
Vegeta almost hollered out the reply, "It doesn't matter!! We're going to take action now! I've had enough of living under that tyrant's boot! Frieza thinks he can control the might of the Saiyans, but he is mortally wrong!"  
  
"But sire, how do we kill Frieza?", Arashiko asked, trying to calm him down and make him think rationally, "He has the Ginyu Tokusentai behind him, as well as the entire Arquisian Empire."  
  
The Arquisians were the reptilian race from Arquisia that provided Frieza's growing organization with technology and military support. One did not lock horns with them and not expect to lose a limb. The Ginyu Tokusentai were the other major threat. They were Frieza's own version of the Saiyan Elite Guard, an army of trained mercenaries and warriors entirely under Frieza's beck and call.  
  
King Vegeta began to grin insidiously, his brow creasing with a hot glare of anger. Arashiko straightened a little, when Vegeta smiled, one ran the other way and did not look back.  
  
"There is something that can be done, a plan of action that I intend to follow. Several teams have been formed already."  
  
Vegeta got up from the throne and walked to the back of a room that adjoined to his main chamber. He waved his hand over a circular disk in the center of the starkly decorated war room. A holographic image of a red planet encircled with blue and green rings trembled in the air and then took solid form. Arashiko immediately recognized the distinctive rings of planet Arquisia.  
  
"Each is to be dispatched to one of the six planets that surround Arquisia under the guise of ambassadorial scouts." Vegeta pointed to three smaller rust-colored planets orbiting around Arquisia. "They will simultaneously clear each planet of inhabitants, cutting off Arquisia from its resources and means of communications. At their signal, a main force will disembark from Kalos." Vegeta motioned to a small green planet a distance away from Arquisia. "At such a distance from Arquisia, the main force is less likely to be detected by the Arquisian Empire or Frieza's lapdogs."  
  
This was almost too much for Arashiko to take in at once. This was a military briefing, directly from the King himself! But why brief her at such a high level? There must be something else he wanted of her, something that put everything at stake. Arashiko's mind raced, converting from the introspections of a youth to the analytical mind of a soldier. She soaked in every tactical bit of information the King gave her, recording every detail like a robot. But of all the answers she received, she didn't get the answer to her main question, how do they cut of the head of the snake, how do they kill Frieza??  
  
King Vegeta continued on, "With the Arquisian forces occupied, Frieza will be without military backup from them, and he'll be left partially unguarded. It's the best chance we'll have to hit him." Vegeta turned to Arashiko and stared straight into her blue eyes, "That's where you come in."  
  
Arashiko stared at him in surprise, "Your Highness??"  
  
King Vegeta put a strong hand on her shoulder, "You are one of my finest and loyal warriors, the only one whom I can trust with such a mission. Frieza would be expecting an attack from our ranks, but not someone in his."  
  
Arashiko nodded as her mind began to grasp the intentions of his plan. A spy! He wanted someone to get into Freiza's ranks, and that someone was her! The notion was overwhelming to her.  
  
"We need an informant close to Frieza to tell us when he is going to be away from Arquisia so that we can attack." Vegeta walked over to his throne and laid a hand over the intricately carved symbol of the royal family with its intricate spiraling designs, "If possible, if you can get close enough," Vegeta removed his hand from the emblem and balled it in a tight fist, "Kill Frieza!!"  
  
Arashiko froze, eyes wide. How could she kill someone that powerful??  
  
Vegeta continued on, aware of her fear, "Frieza would never expect an attack from his own ranks, nor would he have the time to form a proper defense against a close range attack." Vegeta turned to face her, "And I know you have power. Others see it as a defect, but it is truly a gift. If you cast the Moon Beam and transformed, your Ozaroo form would stay small enough to not be noticed by the ones that surround Frieza. The Moon Beam would also make an excellent diversion. With everyone in the crowd distracted, you will have the ultimate chance to kill Frieza."  
  
Arashiko nodded in numb consent. This was a heavy burden to bear, a mission that carried such long lasting implications. What would happen if they failed, if she failed? The all-powerful Frieza would not be happy! The Moon Beam was a brilliant diversion though. The Saiyans normally used it to simulate the condition of full moon light, with it they could unlock the destructive force of their race in all its horrible entirety. All they needed to maintain the shattering power of the Ozaroo form was their tail, one of the distinctive characteristics of the Saiyan race.  
  
King Vegeta circled around the room anxiously as he spoke, "You are to leave tomorrow morning, and the ship embarks to Frieza's base at Moon 24. Once there, you are to report to the Ginyu Tokusentai training area. We have learned that Frieza is looking for new additions to the Ginyu. You are to work under the guise of being a renegade from the Saiyan Third Class military units. Frieza would never trust someone in his ranks from the upper military classes."  
  
Arashiko stood erect, trying to repress the wave of repulsion she felt at the notion of posing as a Third Class Saiyan. He wanted her to deny her very blood and serve, even if only for subterfuge, under the very tyrant who was the bane of their race all together?? She choked down the knot of rebellion and discontent that grew in her stomach. Her loyalties were only to Vegeta. The King had great wisdom. She should not question him. She only worked up the strength and resolve to say. . .  
  
"Yes, your Highness. I will not fail you."  
  
King Vegeta nodded knowingly and dismissed her, the blue emblem of the Royal House gleaming everlasting in the darkness from the amulet that hung around his neck.  
  
"For the honor and glory of Vegeta."  
  
* * *  
  
Arashiko learned that her brother Zorn was to be a part of the main attack force. Before she departed the next morning she went to his quarters and said goodbye. Zorn clasped her hand in a mighty handshake.  
  
"Kill that monster for me, sis. Come back alive."  
  
Arashiko smiled at him, assured by his faith in her, "You know I won't do anything less." She hugged him tightly and let go. If she didn't come back, he would carry on their legacy.  
  
"You know I'll always be there to pick you up." Zorn echoed the words that he always said to her when he taught her to fight as a small child. Arashiko smiled at him warmly.  
  
Arashiko finished the quote, "And I'll be there to throw you back down again, big brother." she joked with him, "Good luck and keep safe for me." She waved at him and continued on towards the ship that would fly her away from everything.  
  
Zorn quietly watched her go, filled with pride at the thought of his little sister being chosen for such an important mission. His faith was complete in her; he knew she would not fail.  
  
* * *  
  
Three weeks in a Saiyan pod and now here she was above Moon 24, Freiza's base, the heart of darkness. Dark swathes of mist wrapped around the moon and held it in an icy grip. The pod descended down towards the small, barren planet as the icy swathes of fear gripped her heart. Arashiko looked down at herself, the high mantle of a Saiyan Elite had been stripped away, replaced with the black armor of a Third Class Saiyan.  
  
Her identity had been taken too, her very name changed for the mission. Her new name was Kakayun, a low class name. Arashiko looked at her trembling hands, now clasped with the dusty black armor of fear. Her heart nearly exploded when the pod halted with a clang in the landing dock. Caution was all-important now, anything could fail the mission, a slight mistake on her part could doom their entire planet.  
  
The tri-fold door parted at the center and opened to reveal the night sky above. Arashiko stepped through the hissing steam of the cooling spaceship and out onto the deck. She assessed the area. Two control officers in the transportation control room waved her clearance and two guards on the deck eyed her suspiciously. Arashiko squinted rebelliously and strode by them, head held high. Though she was posing as a Third Class citizen, she was Arashiko of the Saiyan Elite in her heart and she still had her dignity. As she stepped passed the guards, she caught a snatch of what one of them said after she had walked further off, ". . . damned monkeys." Arashiko stopped walking, her teeth clenched in anger from hearing the derogative term for her race. Her fists clenched and trembled, itching to show the guards just what a "monkey" could do to them. But Arashiko had to bite back her pride and anger, a scuffle with the guards would draw unwanted attention to her and look suspicious. As she hurried off towards where the Ginyu Tokusentai training facility was, she could hear the guards cackling maniacally. This mission was going to have its trials.  
  
Arashiko ducked out of the way as soon as she entered the Ginyu Tokusentai, a body flying past only to slam into the door behind her. The poor fellow's body fell to the floor, leaving an imprint in the wall as he went. At the center of the large, metallic room aliens of various species, shapes, and sizes gathered around a sparring arena in the middle of the area hooting and hollering as some voice unknown to her shouted, "Next?" The noise suddenly stopped. Everyone stepped away from the arena, letting Arashiko have a glimpse of the person causing all the havoc. It was a female Arquisian standing tall in the middle of the room. She pointed to another doomed volunteer who he cowered in the corner of the ring, the hooting and hollering beginning again. Arashiko slipped unnoticed into the crowd and pushed her way to the front to watch the action.  
  
"Hey!!" someone yelled as she bumped a little too hard into them, "Watch where the hell you're going!!"  
  
Arashiko whirled around to face the rude person but stopped the rebuttal she had ready for them. The person who had yelled at her was another Saiyan!!  
  
"Wha, whu...you're a Saiyan?" Arashiko asked confused, surprised to see another of her own race there.  
  
"Lemme think about that for a second, hmm... let's see." the female Saiyan twitched her tail in front of her face, "Got a tail, moonlight's not so good for my complexion....yup!! I sure as hell am a Saiyan!!"  
  
"You're from the Third Class?" Arashiko inquired as she judged by her dark armor.  
  
"And what are you, Queen of the World?" the brute warrior said as she extended a hand out to Arashiko in friendship, "Name's Brana, what's yours, oh Queen?"  
  
"Ar. . ." Arashiko stopped herself just in time. She wasn't very good at this spy thing.  
  
"What's that?" Brana asked for clarity.  
  
"It's Kakayun," Arashiko said, taking Brana's extended hand and shaking it vigorously. Brana was short, but muscular for a Saiyan. Feathery bangs hung down around her round face and covered her right eye while the rest of her dark brown hair tumbled down her back. Like most Saiyans, her eyes were a warm, dusky brown.  
  
"It's always good to find another Third Class. Welcome to the Ginyu training facility, my friend. The one mopping up in the arena is our soon to be captain, if you can survive her recruiting process," Brana stated as she motioned to the Arquisian on the stage, "Her name's Kiaoden."  
  
They both flinched as Kiaoden hammered the volunteer she had pulled into the ring, sending yet another person flying out to greet the hard metal wall. All the battling and she had not even broken into a sweat. The heavily built Arquisian female was flicking away the would-be recruits like insects. Arashiko was staring at the poor soul on the floor when she heard Kiaoden's gruff voice call out again, "You!!" Arashiko turned to look at her as everyone in the crowd stepped as far away from around her as they possibly could.  
  
"M,me?", Arashiko asked nervously.  
  
"Yes, you!! You're here for the recruiting are you not?" Kiaoden demanded impatiently. Brana whispered across to her, "Just put up a good fight and survive and you'll make it." Brana winked at her assuredly and motioned for her to go into the ring.  
  
Arashiko answered assuredly, "Yes I am." as she spryly jumped into the ring. She knew she could take this Arquisian. But, she reminded herself, not too much showing off; you might draw some suspicion that way. As a matter of fact, she had never seen an Arquisian this close before. Whenever they had shown up to address the King, they had always worn dark crimson robes that hid their features from prying eyes. Only Kiaoden's pale green skin hinted to Arashiko that her race was Arquisian. Kiaoden had a sloping forehead with a crest of small horns that ridged the center of it. Two large pointed ears came out from each side of her head and showed through her long, brick colored hair which was tied back with two long strands hanging out in front of her face. Ridges of dark brown skin rested below her eyes, giving their red aspect a dark and guileful glare. Her body possessed the muscular manner of a well trained warrior. A strange white tattoo was apparent on her right shoulder. Arashiko inwardly gasped when she recognized the symbol. It was the Royal Family of Arquisia's symbol!! The royals of Arquisia were trained extensively in fighting and energy manipulation techniques. This fight wouldn't be as simple as she first thought.  
  
Arashiko ran forward, not giving a warning that she was ready to fight, hoping to catch the Arquisian off guard. She leaped in the air, twisting her body around to build the momentum for a devastating kick. Yelling wildly she snapped her leg around and kicked with all her might. Kiaoden stood her ground, smiling eerily. Arashiko hoped to kick the stupid grin right off her face, but as she brought her leg around, it seemed to pass through Kaioden's body. There was a blur, an after-image in the air and then Kiaoden was behind her. She was that fast!! Arashiko backflipped, executing a double-legged kick, narrowly avoiding Kiaoden's intended punch to the back of her head. The kick caught Kiaoden in the abdomen and she drew back, swearing. She had underestimated Arashiko's reaction time. Arashiko laughed as she thought to herself, That's what a "damned monkey" can do!! She landed out of the backflip in a handstand and then used her weight to kip-up back onto two feet again.  
  
Kiaoden glared at her, the anger burning in her red eyes as the smile stretched across her face again. She shook of the effects of the kick to the abdomen and stood up straight, raised her arm and dared Arashiko to attack again with a wave of her fingers. Arashiko came forward again, with a punch angled at the side of Kiaoden's head. Kiaoden caught Arashiko's arm in midair and twisted it over her shoulder, pulling Arashiko towards her and hammering her chin with an elbow. Arashiko's head snapped back from the impact, blood flinging from her open mouth. She fell to the ground in a not so graceful landing. She wiped the blood away from her mouth with her arm, infuriated by the sight of it and the fact that she let the Arquisian get a blow in. Maybe I can show off a little. Arashiko reconsidered her earlier opinion about the fight.  
  
Arashiko flipped back onto her feet and took a defensive stance, both hands level and ready. She circled slowly around the ever-confident Kaioden who angered her further by just standing there grinning. Arashiko got tired of waiting for her to take the offensive and went at her again, this time much faster and more carefully. The movements of her limbs made a psychedelic blur in the air as Kaioden lightly blocked her blows.  
  
"Damn you!!" Arashiko shouted in frustration as she finally gave up with physical attacks and resorted to an energy attack, launching a beam straight at Kiaoden. Kiaoden dodged the beam and came forward at Arashiko with a rapid succession of punches and kicks, nailing her in the stomach with the punches. Arashiko doubled over but used Kaioden's prediction that she would be left vulnerable to fool her. Instead of falling to the ground, Arashiko doubled back with a somersault and jumped into the air, spears of light gathering at her fingertips. Kiaoden turned the surprise on her when she appeared in front of her, moving again with speed undetectable by the naked eye.  
  
"Nice moves, monkey." Kiaoden mocked in her face.  
  
Arashiko yelled insanely at her in fury. Would they never get tired of calling her that!!  
  
Kiaoden bypassed her attacks with a quick movement and brought down a double-fisted punch onto Arashiko's back, catching her falling form with a knee to the midsection. Stunned by the blows, Arashiko started to fall back down but Kaioden caught her...by the tail!! Brana flinched as Kaioden delivered several hard blows to the back of Arashiko's head and neck, knocking her out cold. She was surprised she had even made it this far, Kiaoden normally killed a lot of the recruits within five seconds of entering the arena. Arashiko fell to the floor, body crumpled uncomfortably.  
  
Kiaoden stared down at her curiously for a few silent, contemplative moments, and then finally said, "Next?"  
  
* * *  
  
Arashiko came to with a start, flinging the wet compress off of her head which smacked into Brana's face.  
  
The first words to come out of Arashiko's mouth were, "She grabbed my tail!!! OW!" Arashiko flopped back down onto the stiff bunk. Her head throbbed painfully.  
  
Brana pulled the compress off of her face and gave Arashiko the good news, "Congrads, kid, you made it!!" She whacked Arashiko's arm encouragingly, "Welcome to the Ginyu Tokusentai!!"  
  
Arashiko moaned in reply.  
  
"The Commander was impressed with your performance out there. Most people don't survive the recruiting process."  
  
Arashiko's interest was tweeked, "Commander? I thought she was the Captain?"  
  
Brana answered as she fluffed her scruffy brown hair and wiped the wetness from the compress off of her face, "She's actually both. She's our squad leader, and her brother Ryuichi is the general of the entire regiment. Kaioden's second in command. Not to mention the fact that she's one of the Emperor of Arquisia's many daughters."  
  
Arashiko pressed her palm to her throbbing forehead. No wonder she had been beat so badly, she was the damned Emperor's daughter and those Royal Arquisians were a tough lot. Arashiko wouldn't let her defeat rest peacefully though.  
  
Brana stood up and bounced away excitedly. Arashiko leaned forward to slowly rose, holding two fingers to her aching temples. Brana walked over to a small table at the edge of the comfortable little room. Laid out upon the table was a sleek dark gray and black uniform, made in the fashion of Saiyan armor which was developed and used widespread throughout the galaxy. The armor was very durable and lightweight in battle, also able to withstand strong blows. A billowing white cloak ran from the shoulders and spread out over most of the table, its length designed to hide the motions of the armor's wearer while also looking quite formal and attractive. The white v-shaped symbol of the Ginyu was emblazoned upon the breast of the suit of armor.  
  
"From now on you are to report to duty with this uniform. Your quarters are here and..." Brana jumped up, shouting enthusiastically,".I'm your new roomie!!! It's been so lonely being the only Saiyan in the whole outfit."  
  
"Terrific..", Arashiko gripped her head tighter as the throbbing became worse.  
  
"Heee!", Brana continued on gaily, "Our first mission's in two days!! So you sure as hell better train some more, oh Queen!" Brana bowed in mock homage to Arashiko, "Come to the training room with me and we'll brush up on that floor-biting habit of yours, HAHAHA!"  
  
Arashiko could tell that being roommates with Brana was going to be a barrel of fun. Arashiko rolled her eyes as she thought, How did this air head ever get in the Ginyu?  
  
"YEEEEAH!! Let's both try on our uniforms!! It'll be fun!! Then we can both go to the training room and kick some ass!!" Brana shouted excitedly, full of enthusiasm and energy, yanking on Arashiko's arm and pushing her towards the table. Oh yeah, Brana was definitely helping with her headache, but Arashiko didn't see the point of refusing her so she took the white robes and black armor into the adjoining room while Brana got into her uniform. Arashiko slipped into the Ginyu uniform. Arashiko stared at her own uniformed reflection in the mirror. She appeared so different, even to herself. It felt so strange to wear anything but the blue uniform of the Saiyan Elite. The form-fitting Ginyu uniform gleamed softly in the low light, divisions in the armor accenting her muscles and giving her body an ergonomic appearance. The contrasting ivory robes flowed around her sides and gathered at her feet, an accessory added to the Ginyu uniform by the Arquisians. The uniform felt dreadfully uncomfortable. Maybe because of the uniform itself, but most likely because of what it represented to Arashiko. It was the mantle of the scourge of her race, the mantle of the followers of Frieza. The V emblem of the Ginyu blazed on her breast like a scarlet letter, a mark of shame. Arashiko stared at herself in the mirror, looking into her own sky blue eyes. She could almost spit at herself for wearing the Ginyu uniform, but it was necessary, it was her mission. It would all be over soon. She turned away from her reflection and walked into the other room where Brana was waiting impatiently, tapping her foot.  
  
As soon as Brana saw Arashiko, she started waving her arms and hooting, "WOOO!! Lookin good! You'd make the boys back home cry, HAHAHA!" Brana laughed heartily and jumped onto her feet, pulling Arashiko by her arm all the way down to the training room. Arashiko couldn't help smiling at the antics of her loud roommate.  
  
"Come on, Kakayun, wanna try and beat the strongest of the Saiyans!! MUAHAHAA!!" Brana stood up straight and posed dramatically, trying to show off her muscles. Arashiko passed on that offer and went to sit down by the edge of the ring. Her head was still bothering her.  
  
"Bah, you're no fun!" Brana said, pouting. She smiled when she saw the perfect sparring partner, a bulky looking alien with purple skin speckled with orange dots. He had a sloping forehead that was covered with an orange layer of scales. "Heeey you!" Brana grabbed him by the arm and flipped him into the ring. He fell face-first onto the mat. The confused alien jumped to his feet, cursing angrily.  
  
"Your name's Bertak, right? Come on! Show me whatcha got!!!" Brana took a fighting stance and giggled happily. Bertak growled menacingly, angered when he realized that it was Brana who had slammed him into the ring. He shot forward at Brana at breakneck speed, arms extended outward, ready to grip her in a choke hold. Speed was the specialty of his race. Brana side- stepped him and grabbed his leg, tripping him.  
  
"Wow! You're fast!" Brana said as she pulled his leg up, swung him around a few times, and then threw him across the ring.  
  
Arashiko watched on, amazed by the extraordinary strength Brana displayed for being someone from the Third Class. So that's how she got into the Ginyu.  
  
Bertak charged at her again, anger making him charge without thought. Brana stood her ground, not even bothering to take a fighting stance anymore. She just stood there with an innocent smile on her face as she waved her fuzzy, brown tail in the air in front of her, taunting Bertak forward.  
  
Brana shrugged in Bertak's furious face and kicked forward, hitting him right between the legs. All the men in the room went, "Oo!" as Bertak stood motionless for a few moments, eyes wide and pupiless.  
  
Arashiko laughed heartily, her headache starting to fade away. Another reason she got into the Ginyu, she fights dirty!! Hahaha, I shoulda guessed!  
  
Brana giggled and then pushed with a single finger the still motionless Bertak who fell to the floor cringing. "Welp! I'm done here!" Brana stated as she smacked her hands together a few times, "Your turn, Kakayun. Go kick some alien ass!!"  
  
It took Arashiko a split second to realize that Brana was talking to her, she still wasn't used to being called by the name Kakayun. Brana took a seat by the side of the ring after she picked up Bertak and threw him out of the arena, clearing the floor for Arashiko. Arashiko stood up from where she sat and stretched. Ah, hell, it might be good for me, she thought as she scanned the people in the room for a sparring partner.  
  
She finally spotted the ideal target, a fine specimen of an alien. He was a stout figure though, much shorter than her and possessed of flowing white hair and red-orange skin. He was kind of cute to Arashiko, and muscular for a short guy. Brana came up beside her and whispered into her ear.  
  
"His name's Jiece. He's so full of himself, I wonder how he has room to eat anything. He's cute though.", Brana winked at her mischievously and nudged her with an elbow to the side, "Go show him how to." She shoved Arashiko from behind and sent her towards Jiece.  
  
Arashiko stopped her fall and composed herself. She went up to Jiece and smacked him on the back of the head. No use playing nice, she was going to wipe the floor with this guy, but not without having a little fun first. She smiled coyly into his angered face as he spun around, eyes glowing. He stared up as he realized how much taller Arashiko was and the grimace of fury turned into boyish confusion.  
  
"Hey handsome, dance with me?" Arashiko said as she turned and walked into the arena."  
  
Jiece straightened himself smugly and dismissed her with a wave of his hand and flick of his white hair, "I don't have time for you weak Saiyan monkeys. I'm much too handsome for someone like you to fight anyways."  
  
Arashiko's eye twitched at the corner, There's that damned monkey name again!! OOHOHO, is this guy going to get it good! Arashiko charged forward and kicked Jiece across the ribs, sending him flying back into the ring. Arashiko caught him in the face with a jab before his body hit the ground. Jiece recovered from the blows and wiped the blue blood from his face, "That's it! You've ruined my beautiful face!" he screamed out at her with anger.  
  
Arashiko laughed at him maniacally. If he only knew the true power level of a Saiyan Elite, he would know how pitifully small his own power level is! Arashiko let him advance close to her as she dodged his blows carefully and decisively, using her superior speed to get behind him and deliver a devastating blow to the small of his back. Arashiko could hear Brana's voice booming excitedly over the rest of the crowd.  
  
"WOOOOHHOOOO!!! Gooooooo Kakayun!!"  
  
Arashiko seized Jiece by the hair as he made a vain attempt to run out of the arena. He twisted his body around and shot a red energy beam at her. Arashiko quickly reflected it with a smack of her forearm sending red sparkles of energy up into her face which dissipated into the air like fairy dust. Arashiko spun foreword in a corkscrew forward flip and kicked him full force in the chest with both legs. The force of the blow sent him flying out of the ring and into the metal wall, BAM! Jiece got out of the ring the hard way. The room went silent, astounded by the sheer strength and power Arashiko had displayed. Jiece peeled from the wall and fell to the floor unconscious. Even Brana had stopped shouting, she just stared at her mystified.  
  
"Daaamn!" Brana finally broke the silence, "I haven't seen anybody slammed like that except for when Kaioden fights!"  
  
Arashiko shrugged in reply, "Ah, it's a gift." She hoped she hadn't shown off too much as to give anyone a clue as to who she really was.  
  
Brana raised her eyebrows as Arashiko walked to the side of the ring and sat down to watch the next training matches. She moved her mouth as if to say something to Arashiko, but she couldn't think of anything to say. She was completely in awe. Finally she managed to force out a couple of intelligible words. "Remind me to never get you mad at me!", she told Arashiko as she sat down beside her.  
  
Arashiko smiled to herself, her pride swelling. It felt good to have someone marveling at her strength because she had always been subordinate to the King and his son, their power levels exceeding her own as was their royal birthright.  
  
"Just remember that during our first mission. Be there to back me up. From what I saw, your power level is not so small."  
  
Brana shrugged and coughed uncomfortably, "Well, I guess it's in the blood." she said, her voice overtoned with a darker emotion that Arashiko picked up on immediately, "I guess this means you're ready for your first mission?", Brana inquired, changing the subject quickly.  
  
Arashiko nodded her head. The sooner she could penetrate the ranks of the Ginyu, the closer she could get to Frieza. She expected that this first mission was going to be a test for the new recruits, an initiation into a brutal army, and Arashiko knew that it was not going to be easy.  
  
* * *  
  
Eight pod ships streaked through the dark, star-spangled void that stretched across the heavens. The pods were only big enough to fit one person and their supplies and weapons so Arashiko and the other team members had to travel each separately in their own personal transports. Arashiko sat silently in her own tiny ship, the red lights of the controls casting a crimson glare over her features. Cold sweat glistened on her forehead as she took slow breathes to sway her fear. This mission was going to be far more difficult than Arashiko had first anticipated. They were going to the outermost planet in the Arquisian solar system, a small planet called Cadvia. Kiaoden stated in her briefing that there had been reports of suspicious activity there. Arashiko's heart beat faster at the revelation that King Vegeta may have stationed troops there and that if they were discovered, their whole plan to rid themselves of Frieza would crumble to ashes, along with all their lives and dreams. Arashiko prayed that the King had not chosen to station soldiers on Cadvia. Hope against hope and pray against the inevitable. The green planet loomed ominously into view, only increasing Arashiko's anxiety as the g forces of the ship's descent pressed in upon her lungs. It seemed like her stomach was being wrenched by apprehension and gravity simultaneously. She braced herself as the pods impacted, each pod landing concurrently leaving deep fractured craters in the planet's surface.  
  
Each occupant of the ships stepped through the hot steam created by the friction of entering the atmosphere. The violent contact of the ships to the planet's surface caused the forest surrounding the landing site to catch on fire. The trees splayed away from the craters as the smell of burning wood and sap permeated the air. Foliage popped and sizzled around the eight foreigners as they advanced slowly away from the clearing made by their ships and searched for any signs of activity. The dark shadows of the woods seemed to absorb the black garbed Ginyu. Kiaoden took point and ordered them forward with her harsh voice which resonated through the thick air. Arashiko looked around at the burning woodland and breathed a heavy sigh of relief. She had found no sign of Saiyan activity within two hours of searching. All she had found was the darkness cast by a dying forest and the parade of fleeing animals.  
  
She spotted Brana over in a small, sunlit clearing under a patch of tall, green trees. Arashiko signaled to her with a wave of her and that she had found nothing. Brana motioned the same signal back to her, much to Arashiko's relief. As Brana turned around something suddenly shot out from the deep blackness of the woods and hit her square in the back. It was an energy beam!! Arashiko ran to her, barely missing a beam directed at her head. She pumped her legs as hard as she could to get to her friend. More beams whistled past her head as she dashed. Finally, after an eternity she reached her side.  
  
"Brana! Brana!! Speak to me!!" Arashiko screamed into her face.  
  
Brana eyes flew open and she popped to her feet, "What the hell!!"  
  
A multitude of voices clamored from the shadows of the woods as indistinct forms surged forward at them. Arashiko and Brana took a back to back stance, striking out at anything that moved. Arashiko could see them now, their dark green bodies blending with the woods but showing discerningly in the sunlight of the small clearing. They flashed in and out of visibility, blending with the dusk green of the trees and flashing visible again when the rays of the sun caught their rapid figures. Their red eyes gleamed eerily as they streaked about them.  
  
"These are the natives of this planet!", Brana shouted out behind her, "They don't have very high power levels but their fast little buggers!!"  
  
Brana ducked as one of the stealthy creatures tried to tackle her. Arashiko nailed him with an energy beam that sent him screaming back into the shadows, his midriff bludgeoned by the shaft of energy Arashiko had sent into him. That was one less native to worry about. Brana and Arashiko stood back to back again and started yelling, each concentrating power into their fingertips. Blue lightening began to swirl around Arashiko's dark uniformed figure as soft purple light danced along Brana's. Their battlecries raised through the aborigine yells of the natives as they scattered from the glowing pair. Winds blew around them in a tumultuous uproar of leaves and power, adding a banshee scream to their combined battlecry. Their energy swirled together and burst outward in an all-encompassing wave of destructive force. Blinding light seared the forest around them as everything became imperceptible. In a blur of purple and blue essence, the natives existed no more. As the insuing mists disappeared, nothing was left of the immediate forest around Arashiko and Brana but the black, burnt-out husks of trees and the deeply scarred land.  
  
"Well, I think we got em." Brana stated matter-of-factly as she stared at the leveled land.  
  
"You think?" Arashiko said as she picked up a charred, dark green body part, the remainder of what had attacked them, and then tossed it aside like garbage.  
  
Arashiko and Brana walked smugly back to the landing site, pride beaming with their easy defeat of the natives of Cadvia. Arashiko breathed a lot easier now with the knowledge that there had been none of the King's soldiers stationed there. She was even laughing, so relieved was her mind. Kiaoden stopped them cold in their tracks as she threw a beaten and battered figure to the ground in front of them. Arashiko couldn't contain the gasp of dread she breathed as she instantly recognized the uniform and features of a Saiyan.  
  
Kiaoden kicked him in the side, sending him flying across the forest floor. He landed in a crumpled pile, coughing up blood that stained the green ground.  
  
"I'll ask you once again, who are you working for!! Who sent you!!?" Kiaoden's menacing voice assaulted the prisoner.  
  
Through blood and pain he managed to yell out defiantly, "I'll never tell you!"  
  
No! No! No! Arashiko's mind railed as she realized how close the King's plot against Frieza was to being revealed.  
  
Growling ferociously, Kiaoden kicked him one more time in the gut, making him double over and cringe on the ground. She stepped aside and stared straight at Arashiko, "Kakayun, make him talk, then finish him!"  
  
Arashiko was almost frantic with panic and fear. She stumbled to find a response for Kiaoden, "He will never talk. He's a Saiyan and he won't bend. I know our kind better than that. There is no need to kill him, he's already finished." Arashiko prayed desperately that would satisfy Kaioden's appetite for blood.  
  
Kaioden eyed her suspiciously for a few moments then spoke, a sly edge to her voice, "I realize that..but think of this as a test of loyalty. You must prove yourself to the Ginyu." She moved aside away from the unfortunate captive.  
  
Arashiko walked slowly forward, her blue eyes taking in the countenance of the boy before her. He was a young soldier, probably a weaker foot soldier left behind in the scramble to evacuate the troops before the Ginyu's arrival Arashiko guessed. He was hardly out of his teens, he stared at her with supplicating eyes that harbored tears of fear and pain. Red blood flowed from a wound to his forehead and traced a path across his smooth face, outlining his ever-pleading eyes. Arashiko could hardly bare to look at him.  
  
"Please!!" his shaking voice begged her, "You're a Saiyan! You can't do this!"  
  
Arashiko stood in front of him, inner turmoil twisting her face into a grave expression. How can I do this?! How can I kill my own?? If I show mercy then Kiaoden will know who I am! Our whole world could burn!! How can I do this? How!? How?!!!  
  
Kiaoden stared at Arashiko thoughtfully, her reptilian red eyes narrowed to two dangerous slits. This was the deciding factor, the test that proved everything.  
  
Arashiko placed a gentle hand over the prisoner's eyes as she whispered words softly for only him to hear, "Such bravery in the face of power is admirable. You have earned a death worthy of a Saiyan. King Vegeta will live on."  
  
The boy still looked up at her and begged her one last time, his desperate voice pleading and ripping Arashiko's heart out, "Please!" tears streaked down his face.  
  
Arashiko stared onward at him, the test weighing her soul down with indecision.  
  
For the Glory and Honor of Vegeta.  
  
* * * 


	2. Fallen in the light

Child of the Storm  
  
Chapter 2: Fallen in the Light  
  
Arashiko scrubbed the white cloak, still stained with the young soldier's blood. She just couldn't get the stains out! Not out of her conscience, not out of her guilt. She couldn't clean the blood off of her hands!! They had arrived back at base over an hour ago and still she could not cleanse herself. A tiny voice inside of her scolded her, To think! A Saiyan with a case of conscience! You did what you had to do! The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few!! The Royal House lives on and that is your only purpose for living.  
  
Yet still it stang and still she could not wash away the blood. With an agonized cry of frustration and fury Arashiko tore the bloodstained white cloak along with the shoulder guards of the Ginyu uniform from her body and threw them across the room, accursed mantle that it was. She slammed her fists into the walls and knocked aside the furniture, breaking most of it. She had never felt such bitter anger in her whole entire life. She could not do anything but struggle in the prison of her own anger until the mission was complete and Frieza was defeated, one way or another. She stood there for a few moments, fingers trembling with pure rage, chest heaving with labored breathes. Arashiko thanked goodness that Brana had not been there to see her violent outbursts; she might have begun to suspect something. She quickly picked up the mess she made and replaced the unbroken furniture, her anger spent for the moment. She couldn't walk outside of her quarters at the moment, seeing anyone wearing the Ginyu uniform would ignite her anger anew. All Arashiko could find the will to do was flop down onto the uncomfortable little bunk that had been provided for her to sleep in. Soon Arashiko heard Brana come in and lie down on the bunk across from her where she slept. Arashiko noticed that Brana was unusually quiet, a state that was nearly impossible for Brana. Arashiko turned around to look at her to see what was the matter.  
  
Brana looked just as visibly shaken by the experience as Arashiko was internally shaken. Brana had her arms wrapped around her knees, her head buried in her elbows despairingly.  
  
"What's wrong?" Arashiko asked softly.  
  
Brana raised her head a little and shook it. Arashiko could see the tears blotting her face. Brana took a deep breath and looked over at Arashiko, "The past always comes back to haunt you when you're least expecting it."  
  
Arashiko blinked, not knowing what she meant.  
  
"I left our home world fifteen years ago. When I was there, I had a family, a mother, a father, a brother. We served the King with all our strength and blood. We served him, we gave him our lives!" Brana paused, her voice deepening with anger. "One day the Elite came for us. It was King Vegeta's decree that my brother and father be taken away and executed. He feared us; he feared the power we possessed, especially because we were Third Class trash. He despised the fact that a Third Class could possibly have more power than he did!! It was not enough that he take my brother and father but he ordered my mother and I taken as well!" Brana balled her fists angrily, the hate flowing through her words like electricity, "Vegeta feared that we carried the gene that made such power possible, he saw it fit to eliminate my whole entire family! I was small enough to escape the Elite Guard, those demons that hide behind the armor of honor! They took my life along with the lives of my family! All that was left to me was this path! The Ginyu..." Brana stopped, her voice cut off, too full of chaotic emotions to express them any further. She turned her glistening eyes towards Arashiko.  
  
Arashiko turned away from her, unable to look Brana in the eyes. She tried to come up with some excuse, some way to defend the King's actions, but she couldn't. She couldn't justify them even to herself. She couldn't think of anything to say to her except for a few words,  
  
"I. . .I'm sorry.", Arashiko put as much meaning into those words as she could, though it did little to rectify anything.  
  
Brana smiled sweetly, her cheeks still glistening with tears, "S'Okay, Kakayun. You can't change the past, all things come to their just ends. The Elite will come to theirs, as will the King."  
  
Arashiko shifted uncomfortably, not knowing how to reply, mind not knowing how to interpret her own feelings. After a while, they both drifted off into a soundless sleep.  
  
The next day Arashiko noticed that Brana wore something around her neck that she had never noticed before. It was a simple necklace, bound by a brown leather chain. A single circular gold amulet with small designs scratched into the surface hung central from the strap. Brana saw her staring at it curiously and she smiled broadly.  
  
"Hehe, me and my brother, Brolly, made this amulet when we were smaller. It's supposed to be our family crest, we made it up ourselves." Brana fingered the amulet in her hands and smiled somberly, reminiscing of the past.  
  
To Arashiko, the amulet looked almost like a child's infantile version of the Seal of the Royal House, the blue embellished disk that King Vegeta wore proudly around his neck. Arashiko sighed; she didn't know whether to take the amulet as an insult to the Royal House or a token of love between a brother and sister. For the first time she found herself questioning the Royal House and it was not a good feeling. She had been born and raised to be loyal to them, to serve them with every ounce of blood and spirit in her body. She never expected to find morality in a Third Class, to find someone from the Third Class that was just like her, path predestined and preordained. The classes weren't as clear cut in her mind anymore, everything was changing. She dismissed it and pushed it to the back of her mind. She had a mission, she had a destiny and she had loyalty, to the once and future king, Vegeta and his son.  
  
* * *  
  
Time slipped past as days turned into months. Arashiko was able to rise in the ranks of the Ginyu along with Brana. She, Brana, and Kiaoden were the top officers in the entire force and yet Arashiko still had not obtained an opportunity to get close to Frieza. She had only brief meetings with him, always with Kiaoden and Ryuichi there as well as Frieza's lackeys surrounding him, preventing any would-be assailants. The clock was ticking and Arashiko knew that if she was going to make her move, it would have to be soon. She studied his habits very carefully. Frieza never had less than one person around him when he was alone. The fact was frustratingly real to Arashiko. She knew she did not have the power or strength to best Frieza along with one of his powerful cronies Kiaoden, Ryuichi, Zarbon or Dodoria. There was something about the cold eyes of Ryuichi that made Arashiko avoid him whenever she could, something dark and brooding in those eyes of his that turned her soul to ice. Ryuichi hardly ever talked. The Arquisian normally stood silently by Freiza's side. Though his exterior seemed calm, he was always vigilantly watching what happened around him. He was a tall figure, with a well-built form and the usual Arquisian pride. On his right arm the white symbol of the Emperor of Arquisia contrasted against his dark green skin. An imperious red crest on his forehead set off his deep scarlet pupils. His crest and physique definitely singled him out as a Royal of Arquisia. Frieza's other honor guard was Zarbon, an insanely loyal emerald- haired alien that was never too far from his side. Arashiko strongly disliked his over-inflated ego and disgusting loyalty for Frieza. Dodoria was another that Arashiko hated with a passion. He was a fat blob of an alien with salmon skin who always treated her as an inferior when she was around. Dodoria had a strong racism towards Saiyans of any kind. With a sigh of frustration, Arashiko returned to her quarters. If she didn't come up with something soon, her mission would be doomed to failure, a fact which she could not live with.  
  
She sat and looked out the tiny window of her cramped compartment which she and Brana shared overlooking the bleak landscape of Moon 24. Largely stripped of organic life to support weaponry and supply buildings, the terrain had a desolate gray physique that matched Arashiko's frustrated mood. She looked over to Brana's side of the room when she noticed a pungent, rank smell floating about in the air. Brana never, ever cleaned up anything, food, clothes, anything. She was the biggest slob Arashiko had ever met. It was a habit that was prevalent among the Third Class Saiyans. Arashiko shook her head, trying to ignore it. She sniffed hard to try and get the smell out of her nostrils. It was no use trying to clean Brana's side of the quarters, one might lose a limb in that attempt. Finally, Arashiko could stand it no more and sought relief outside in the fresh air of the hallway. With no outlet for frustration, she paced up and down the halls, telling those who asked that she was just on guard duty.  
  
"There's no question about it now, my lord." Arashiko heard Kiaoden's gruff voice long before she reached the entrance to Frieza's elaborate quarters.  
  
Arashiko silently slipped up to the door and stood just outside of it, making sure to keep her form well-hidden. She sensed something important going on. Kiaoden continued on.  
  
"The soldier we found on Cadvia was definitely working for King Vegeta. It is most certain he is conspiring against us."  
  
Frieza sat back in his hovering chair which concealed most of his reptilian- like body and tail. His horned visage conveyed neither happiness nor sadness at the revelation of his so-called ally Vegeta allying against him. Frieza's face was frozen and emotionless as he listened intently to Kiaoden's words.  
  
Kiaoden paused for a moment, surprised by Frieza's indifferent reaction. He sat sedately drinking a glass of dark wine. He took a sip every few moments and swished the glass slowly, thoughtfully, vigilantly, expression locked in stone.  
  
"There are some situations which must be rectified. Our sensors have detected activity on the outer moons of Arquisia. Vegeta is trying to make a move," Kiaoden flexed her clawed hands as she spoke; "This is one thorn that must be pulled from our sides. My father, the Emperor, can dispatch assassins immediately. The king of the monkeys will be dead by sundown, hahaha!"  
  
Kiaoden's cackling laugh echoed throughout the empty halls and resonated emphatically through Arashiko's ears.  
  
They mean to kill the King!!? I should have seen this coming!! How blind I must have been! How blind we all must have been to ever trust that snake Frieza!!! Damn him!!  
  
Kiaoden stopped laughing as the wine glass shattered, spilling the wine over Frieza's hand. The dark wine ran through his fingers like blood. Fury finally cracked the mask of his face, "Don't bother with assassins, let him make his stand!" Frieza's face was overcome by an evil smile, "Let him come! This will be an example to all who dare oppose Frieza!! The Saiyans have been useful to me, but it's time that our 'alliance' terminated." An overbearing silence fell over the room. Kiaoden stood in reticent, nervousness creeping into her features.  
  
Arashiko did not need to hear anymore.  
  
I must warn the King! If I contact him via the scouter, the signal might be detected and traced. I have to find some way to get a signal to Vegeta!!  
  
Arashiko cautiously backed away from the door to Frieza's chambers and walked quickly and quietly towards the docking bay.  
  
The bay was all but abandoned except for the presence of two patrolling guards and two control tower officers who monitored the coming and going of the ships. She entered the control room casually. The two officers noticed the white V on her chest and saluted stiffly. Arashiko wasted no words, with a quick high kick she sent one of the control tower officers flying backwards. The force of the kick made his head smack and break the thick glass of the window. His body slumped to the ground in a pile of shattered glass. The other guard managed to fire his hand laser which passed through her cloak harmlessly. Before he knew what hit him, Arashiko was behind him. She gripped his head tightly and twisted it forcefully till a dull crack signaled that the officer was dead.  
  
Arashiko ran swiftly out to the docking area and peered out of the doorway. The patrolling officers had been too far away in the bay to notice the fight, but they might notice the broken glass. She strode briskly up to them. They too turned and saluted, but then cowered when she started running towards them. Arashiko let herself be lost in the flow of adrenaline from the last fight. It was what Saiyans lived for, to fight. She jumped into the air and flipped behind them, easily evading their lasers. Arashiko came forward with a punch aimed at one of the surprised guards' backs. Her fist penetrated his back and passed through his body. Arashiko drew back and threw the dead guard off of her arm, streams of blood dripping down her face and through her fingers. Horrified, the other guard ran for his life in a frantic effort to escape. Blazing white light erupted from Arashiko's fingertips. The beam caught him square in the back. The guard was no more. Arashiko quickly returned to the control room and tapped a sequence into the transmissions panel that was the frequency only the Elite of Vegeta used to contact the King.  
  
It's only matter of minutes before the guards come to check on the missing patrol!! Work you damned machine!!!  
  
She pounded the control panel with her fists when all she got was static. She yelled into the receiver, hoping that some of what she was saying might get through to the King.  
  
"Mission 401, Elite First Class Arashiko!! It's a trap!! Frieza's expecting the attack!! Withdraw from Arquisia!! Break off from the attack plans!! He's going to murder the King!!!! DAMMIT!! WORK DAMNED MACHINE!!!" Still, there was no reply except for garbled static. Arashiko screamed in frustration and with one last desperate punch, screamed again, "DAAAMMITT!!!" She rested her forehead on the broken panel.  
  
Think! Think ! Think! What can I do now?  
  
She sighed with relief when she realized she could use one of the ships in the docking bay to get the message directly to King Vegeta. She ran towards one of the docked pods, its open door beckoning her and assuring her. Freedom was almost upon her.  
  
Arashiko screamed as something hit her in the back hard, wrenching her guts and throwing her to the floor. She rolled over and supported herself with her arms, recovering sluggishly from the blow. She looked up and everything stopped as her mind and body went into shock.  
  
Brana was standing just a few feet from her, arm upraised from shooting the energy beam that had struck her in the back. A look of pure anger and rage enveloped Brana's features in darkness. Arashiko slowly rose to her feet to face her.  
  
Arashiko silently implored her, "Please, what are you doing Brana?"  
  
"Traitor. . .," Brana began quietly, her voice breaking as if she was about to cry. The calm before the storm.  
  
Arashiko's eyes searched for something to say, some excuse, but found only silence to pronounce. She lifted her empty hands up to Brana, trying to get her to understand that she was doing this to save their world.  
  
"All the lies, all the memories, all this time!!!!", Brana's voice raised into an infuriated yell, "ALL THIS TIME YOU WERE ONE OF THOSE MONSTERS WHO TORE MY FAMILY APART!!!!" She rushed forward and kicked Arashiko in the ribs. Arashiko slid across the floor, her raised arms meekly trying to defend herself.  
  
With nowhere else to go, Arashiko inadvertently blurted out, "It is you who are the traitor! You abandoned us!! You fight against your own King and race!! You would kill your own!! Just like a Third Class!!" her outburst was empty, trained. She had nothing to say except what had been forged into her mind. She was raised to be an entirely loyal follower of King Vegeta.  
  
Hot tears of anger and emotion ran down Brana's face, "You dare call me a traitor!! You murderer!!!" she kicked Arashiko in the ribs again.  
  
Arashiko took the blow and tried to convince Brana again, "Please!! Please!! Just let me go!!! I don't want to hurt you!!!" Arashiko knew she could defeat Brana, though she was strong, her own power level exceeded hers immensely. Arashiko avoided her next blows and got to her feet to try and defend herself.  
  
"You killed my family!!! YOU KILLED MY FAMILY!!!!! YOU STOLE MY LIFE!!!" Brana screamed insanely at her, launching a series of chaotic blows which Arashiko tried to block. Some of Brana's kicks caught her in the stomach and face and she was sent sprawling backwards. Arashiko caught herself and landed on two feet. Brana rushed at her, this time primed to kill.  
  
"PLEASE!!! PLEEEEEASSSE!!! DON'T MAKE ME DO THIS, BRANA!!!!" Arashiko begged and pleaded one last time. She knew this time that Brana was going to kill her. The strings were pulled taut, life and death, honor and dishonor, one choice or the other, constricting tightly. Brana's screaming, enraged form was almost upon her.  
  
With an outcry of defeat and sorrow, Arashiko released all her anger and emotion outward into one focused beam. Brana was sent flying backward and she fell unmoving to the floor. Arashiko fell limply onto her back, breathing heavily. As she felt the cold floor she closed her eyes tightly, not wanting to see what she had done.  
  
Brana gasped for a few more breaths then wispered \" Prince........... Ve.... ge...  
  
ta......I.......I.....lov...\" her gasping stopped her from finishing her sentence. Brana laid there and found the strength to say \" Arashiko....... remember what I tell you now...... Remember this please it might help you some how.......Anxiety is love\'s greatest killer. It makes one feel as you might when a drowning person holds on to you. You want to help him but you know he will strangle you in his panic......all it means is that you want to help someone who is in need of your help but they are trapped in their emotions. It's impossible to save them. They will kill you.death is always going to knock on your door...But what keeps you alive is to know to never answer the door.....so promise you will never open the door for death....I let King Vegeta destroy me...... I told myself I wouldn\'t let him destroy me yet he did....Brolly. I..am coming soon....\"  
  
She could hear Brana choking for a few torturous moments, and then all was silent except for her own breathing.  
  
Finally, she pulled herself up with all her might and forced herself to walk over to Brana's side. The blast Arashiko emitted had blown a hole straight through Brana's chest. Her unseeing eyes stared upward into the abyss. The abyss stared straight back into Arashiko's heart, holding it in an icy grip. She fell to her knees by Brana's body and cradled her head tenderly. With a gentle stroke of her hand, she closed Brana's eyes forever. Arashiko rocked her body back and forth, not knowing what else to do. Her mind was frozen, everything was gone except for what she had done. She had killed perhaps her only true friend. A glint of metal caught her eye and drew it to the gold medallion Brana had around her neck. Arashiko gripped it in her palm and held it to her heart. With a tug she pulled it off and rose to her feet, staring down at Brana's still body. She tied the tiny trinket around her neck and it fell to rest right over her heart. With one final glance back, she said goodbye to Brana and took to the ship.  
  
As she sat in the pod speeding towards oblivion, she felt something warm and wet on her face. With a questioning hand, she wiped away the unwelcome wetness. She did something that she had never done before in her entire life. She cried.  
  
* * *  
  
"We've locked on to her ship's signal. I knew she was a traitor!!" Arashiko listened resolutely to Kiaoden's angered voice blare over the ship's transmissions monitor, "She's going to die if it's the last thing I do!!"  
  
A much calmer and deeper voice broke in, "Don't worry, sister, we can reach her before she ever reaches Vegeta. Frieza will have nothing to worry about, neither will our father."  
  
Arashiko breathed deeply, trying to calm herself so she could think straight. Everything was falling apart!! And she was riding the last chance to freedom.  
  
Brana must have been able to get a signal off to the others! Frieza had sent both Kiaoden and her brother Ryuichi after her! Ryuichi, the Arquisian General of the entire Ginyu outfit, son of the Emperor of Arquisia!!  
  
Hearing his cold voice was like hearing the deep-toned voice of Death as he rang her death toll.  
  
Can't this damned ship go any faster!!! Arashiko blazed with trepidation. She checked the panels. The ship was already set to go as fast as possible without risking compression of the hull. Arashiko cursed again and pounded the back of her head on the seat in frustration. Two hours!!! All I need is two hours to reach Vegeta!!! All there was left to do was sit back and wait, all things would come to their just ends, just like Brana said.  
  
* * *  
  
Suddenly, the ship jolted, electrical red sparks jumped up from every panel, scalding Arashiko's face. She frantically pressed buttons around the panels, trying in vain to stabilize the ship and see what the hell was firing at her. The proximity alarm showed two ships hot on her tail.  
  
Shit!! They caught up with me this fast?!?! One more hour!! Damn it!! Just one more hour till I reach Vegeta!!!  
  
Arashiko quickly punched a sequence into the navigational controls, trying to evade any more blasts from Ryuichi and Kiaoden. She grimaced as yet another blast rocked the ship. All the controls flashed bright red simultaneously then went out, leaving Arashiko in total darkness except for the soft luminescence of the stars. She was flying blind. Short, ragged gasps escaped her lungs as she frantically pounded every button on the dead control panels.  
  
Nothing works!! Nothing works!!!!!  
  
More white and red sparks jumped at her face as her body was pressed back into the seat by G-force that even the aero dynamical technology of the pod could not dampen. She was falling fast!! The ship was going to crash!!! The wayward flailing of the ship had gotten it caught in the gravitational pull of a small, emerald planet swaddled in yellow clouds. Arashiko was hysterical, no controls, no sight, no sound, nothing but the feeling of falling and the knowledge that she was going to die right then and there. She clinched her teeth when the ship punched through the planet's atmosphere causing it to go into a rapid, gyrating spin. Through the circular view port on the front of the ship she could see the ground rushing up to meet her. Arashiko closed her eyes tightly. There was a terrible ripping feeling, a rush of pain and sound, then blackness.  
  
* * *  
  
Darkness faded in and out, strange shadows passed over her eyes. When she finally opened them, she could see her own feet dangling in front of her. Arashiko shook her head, disorientation making it hard for her to do anything. She was suspended upside-down, body bent over the strap at her waist that secured her to the ship's seat. Every so often sparks would erupt from the disfigured panels. Arashiko slowly unlatched the belt, cursing as she fell face down into a pile of metal shards and glass. Well, I'm not dead, death doesn't sting this much, she thought as she pulled a piece of glass out of the skin of her hand. She stumbled out of the rubble and took in her surroundings. Three burning suns blazed in the sky brightly, casting the landscape in a soft yellow hue. The terrain was somewhat barren and flat except for a few trees that were strangely stripped of foliage but for a plume of leaves that gave their tops a circular shape. Rich purples and greens spread across the colorful landscape to a sea of blue water.  
  
Arashiko tapped the scouter computer attached to her ear in an attempt to retrieve a read out on her location. The analysis on the glass display over her right eye jumped erratically.  
  
Planet: Namecksei Class: B  
  
Resources: Minimal Power Levels: Indeterminate  
  
Status:__ shfstsst__#_*_*_ _ _  
  
The tiny screen went blank. Arashiko tapped it a little harder. No response. She tapped it one more time, getting only weak beeps in reply. Arashiko cursed again. Without a scouter, she was completely blind as to how to locate power sources and enemies.  
  
Great!! No ship, no scouter, what can happen next!?!? She thought as she stomped the ground and slouched to a seated position next to the disemboweled ruin of her ship. Arashiko released a heavy sigh. A high- pitched noise in the air caught her attention immediately. She recognized it without even having to find the cause of it. Two circular ships streaked the sky a short distance away, the white V emblem showing distinctly on their outer hulls. Arashiko jumped to her feet, she couldn't breathe, couldn't think.  
  
Kiaoden and Ryuichi's ships!! They're here to kill me!!! Shit!!!  
  
Arashiko started off, not caring what direction she was going as long as she was away from her ship, the crash site would be the first place they would search. If she could hide, maybe they would give up on her.  
  
But how can I mask my power level?? With their scouters they're sure to lock onto my signal!!!! There's no way I can beat both of them!!!  
  
Arashiko quickly searched the landscape for a way out. She ran towards a series of caves that opened invitingly at the bottom of a large plateau. Deeper and deeper she penetrated the darkness of the tunnels until she reached a large inner chamber with a small opening to the sky above. Arashiko stopped and cleared her mind, calming herself. By now, Kiaoden and Ryuichi were most certainly scouring the wreckage of her ship. They would be upon her in a matter of minutes.  
  
I will run no more!! They're going to find me, it's inevitable. But at least I can fight!!! I'm not going to die sitting down!! Better to die on my feet than live on my knees!!! I have to try and get out of this alive for the King, I'm his last hope!!! For the Glory and Honor of Vegeta!!!!  
  
Her determination was set in iron. A ray of sunshine shone through the small opening in the ceiling, flashing in her eyes. That's it!! The Moon Beam!!! If I can shift to my Ozaroo form, I might have a chance!!! It's just big enough of an opening to let the moonlight show through!!  
  
Arashiko took in a deep breath, knowing that it might be the last one she ever took. She closed her eyes and focused. In her mind, she converged energy into a sphere, letting everything else fall away. She slowly raised her right hand, palm held upward catching the sunbeams as they floated down from the light. Blinding white radiance tore through the darkness of the cave and illuminated Arashiko's features. A perfect sphere of ivory energy floated up from her uplifted palm. The ball danced and trembled in the air like foxfire. It followed every movement of her hand as Arashiko drew back and threw it upward through the opening and into the sky. With a shout, she closed her hand and the ball exploded, producing an intense flash that filled the amber sky.  
  
"Let there be light!!"  
  
* * *  
  
Outside , Kiaoden and Ryuichi saw the blast of dazzling brilliance and stood staring, dumbfounded until Ryuichi finally broke the daze.  
  
"It's the Moon Beam!!! The Saiyan's trying to transform into an Ozaroo! We must stop her before she shifts!!!" Ryuichi jumped into the air and flew towards the spreading light. Kiaoden hurriedly followed her brother's lead.  
  
Arashiko stood staring at the light, eyes never averting from its beautiful glare. She could hear it, she could feel it. Her heartbeat quickened and she could hear it pounding in her ears.  
  
It is beginning. . .  
  
Arashiko doubled over. The transformation for her was never pleasant. It was painful and it was excruciating. With an outcry of suffering, she began to change. All of her canine teeth elongated to dangerous sharp fangs. The color of her skin deepened to a tan brown as her hands contorted awkwardly. She balled her fists, trying to ease the torment. It felt like every bone in both her hands were breaking simultaneously. They twisted and popped painfully, the tips of her fingers extending to claws. Her whole physique changed, becoming larger in stature by a few feet, her muscles becoming firmer and stronger, adding to her distorted countenance. Simultaneously, her ears augmented to points, giving her sense of hearing a boost. No longer did she see with the clear blue eyes she was born with, but with the unearthly crimson eyes of an Ozaroo. Arashiko stretched her body out, cracking the new bones and muscles into place. She stared at her clawed hands and cried out in triumph. She could feel the elevated power of an Ozaroo flowing through her like wildfire.  
  
Thus is the power of the Saiyan race realized!  
  
* * *  
  
Ryuichi finally reached the origin of the light, Kaioden close in time. He yelled over to her that the scouter indicated the Saiyan was inside of the caves at the base of the plateau. He didn't have time to do anything else. A rush of energy exploded from the plateau, sending Kaioden and Ryuichi falling backwards. Bits of smoking land and debris fragmented in the air and assaulted them. Brilliant pale blue light blinded them on all sides. With a crash, they slammed into the ground. Kaioden lifted herself up, slanted red eyes searching for the source of the massive outburst of energy. She spun around as she heard a tumult of wild screaming. Arashiko landed only a few feet away from her, howling a battlecry that echoed throughout the broken land. Kiaoden quickly took a stance as the Saiyan slowly advanced. Kiaoden smiled broadly, exhibiting her sharp fangs. No matter that the Saiyan had become more powerful from shifting into an Ozaroo, that only meant there was going to be more fun in killing her.  
  
"All this time I've been waiting for an excuse to kill you," Kiaoden spat with contemptuous ardor.  
  
Arashiko stared silently at her for a few moments, head bowed ominously, her blood red eyes glowing, "So have I." Arashiko's eyes flashed and she charged at Kiaoden, preparing to fight or die.  
  
Arashiko's claws came down with all the force she could muster. Kiaoden backed off and tried to block her attack, but once again, she underestimated Arashiko's heightened strength and speed. Arashiko slammed into Kiaoden with such force that the Arquisian was driven to her knees. Kiaoden screamed out as Arashiko clutched her head in a choke hold and embedded her claws into the side of her neck in an attempt to slit her throat. Kiaoden swept back with her foot and used Arashiko's own weight to flip her over her shoulder. Arashiko gently rolled out of the throw and licked the blood off of her claws.  
  
"First blood is always the sweetest!" Arashiko quietly said as she grinned menacingly at Kiaoden, her bestial features distorting strangely. Kiaoden glared back at her, eyes blazing with hatred and contempt. Arashiko jerked her head towards Ryuichi when he appeared behind his sister. His cool eyes narrowed to slits as he slowly advanced towards Arashiko.  
  
"Stop! This one's mine, Ryuichi!!" Kiaoden wiped the blood off her face with the back of her hand,"I can handle her by myself." Ryuichi nodded silently and held his ground. A sardonic laugh abruptly burst from Kiaoden. She laughed as if possessed, so much that she could have cried. Her psychotic cackling sent icy chills up Arashiko's spine.  
  
Finally, Kiaoden's laughter ceased and her insane sneer melted away to the darkest of expressions. The points of her teeth glinted in the gathering darkness of their battlefield. Storm clouds converged over the planet, ripe with lightening and rain. The first plump drops of rain from the impending torrent pelted down upon the land. The wind sent the Arquisian's raven hair whipping out in front of her face.  
  
"You're not the only one who can transform, monkey!"  
  
Arashiko jumped back as Kaioden shot forward a few feet. The disgusting pop and crack of bones emanated from Kaioden, two extra arms forcing their way out of her shoulder blades. An unnatural howling shriek arose from Kaioden as her body twisted and warped into something else. Her jagged claws protracted outwards to an elongated length. Her needle-like fangs extended also, giving Kaioden a demonic form. Barbed spikes erupted from her elbows and knees. Savage spears of pointed protrusions burst forth from the vertebrae on her back. Lightening flashed and crackled behind her, cookinh the ground around them with raw energy. The immense powers raised in Kaioden's body called forth clouds and death. Arashiko stared at her in total awe.  
  
I didn't know the Arquisians could form shift!!!!!?  
  
The demonic Kaioden saw the question in her eyes and laughed heartily, "Hahaha!! You fool!!! Unlike the Saiyans, we kept our transformation ability a secret!! Why do you think the Empire of Arquisia has lasted so long? We have an edge over all who think we possess only that one weak, pathetic form! We were careful to conceal this from Frieza, but you Saiyans? You were stupid to reveal yourselves to Frieza!! And now you're nothing!! ARRGGGHH!!!" Kaioden charged forward at Arashiko faster than even her Saiyan eyes could catch.  
  
With one punch she toppled Arashiko and at the same time used her three other arms to deliver simultaneous blows to her abdomen. The force of the blows sent Arashiko flying back into an outcropping of rock. The formation shattered when her body slammed into it. Arashiko shook her head, trying to clear her mind and regain her focus. She had to think of a way to defeat the monstrous Kaioden!! Or the King would die, she would die!!! Kaioden rushed at her again, but this time Arashiko was ready. With a graceful leap, she flipped over Kaioden and rammed her in the back with a roundhouse kick. She followed up with a flurry of punches and kicks aimed to injure internal organs. The blows had little effect on Kaioden. They just pissed her off even more, but that was the plan!! If she could get Kaioden to charge carelessly in anger, she could perhaps land a decisive lethal blow. Kaioden screamed in fury and charged her again, just as Arashiko wanted. Arashiko spun around her flailing form and nailed her with an energy blast right to the chest. Kaioden groaned in agony and fell to the ground. Arashiko smiled smugly, preparing to deliver the coup de gra. Rain pounded down incessantly. Lightening flashed everyone lightening flashed everywhere, illuminating Kaioden's fallen body. Arashiko called power to her hands, her killing blow set.  
  
Without warning Kaioden shot up and grabbed Arashiko with both sets of arms. She squeezed Arashiko in an intense bear hug with all her strength, making her bend backwards in distress. Arashiko struggled in vain to escape her iron grip. She could feel the bones in her back cracking, any more and she would be paralyzed in a matter of seconds. She let her head fall back, seemingly giving in to her coming death. Arashiko screamed defiantly as she brought her body forward with all the strength left in her. Headbutting right between the eyes, almost knocking herself out in the process. With her left hand she shot an energy beam directly into Kaioden's face. Kaioden screamed out in pain and rage as Arashiko slipped from her deadly embrace. Kaioden fell to her knees clutching her burnt face and howling in agony. Arashiko pulled the wind underneath her and took to the air.  
  
I have one chance to defeat her. Shi no Arashi!!! Arashiko called to mind the most powerful technique she possessed, the Shi no Arashi, Storm of Death!! It was a potent energy attack where she focused all of her strength and energy into her hands and release it in a single destructive beam of devastating power. This technique was her trade mark as well as her trump card. Once released, it would incinerate Kaioden to ashes.  
  
But I need time to gather the energy for it!! That little prick I gave her should keep her occupied. . .  
  
Arashiko penetrated through the thick storm clouds, the rain bombarding her face as she went. She judged her distance from Kaioden as at least a mile and figured that would be just long enough to charge the attack. She wasted no words. Arashiko stilled herself and began the process. Shards of blue light formed at her fingertips. Lightening ejected from the clouds and struck the aura of pale blue energy that began to swirl around her body. Energy crackled in the air and leaped along her arms, accumulating at her fingertips.  
  
It's almost done!! Just a few more seconds!!! Already Kaioden was on her tail again.  
  
Just a few feet away Kaioden appeared before her. Blue Arquisian blood ran from the gaping wound where her right eye had been and trickled over her wicked fangs. Kaioden did not look happy. Kaioden's arms weaved about in the air maliciously calling for blood, Arashiko's blood.  
  
Yesss!! It's finished!!!  
  
Arashiko let loose the Shi no Arashi. Kaioden flinched in surprise as the resplendent azure light engulfed everything. Blinding streaks of thunder crashed around Arashiko. The aura surrounding her floated outward and dissipated into the flashing violence of the storm. The tremendous beam Arashiko launched at Kaioden creeped forwards in slow motion. Time seemed to stop and stagnate as the Arquisian brought her hands up to enfold the rushing beam of energy. Dark and light met when Kaioden fired off her own beam of spinning red essence. It sliced through the pure blue effulgence that was Arashiko's last hope for defeating her. All at once time sped up again, a rush of motion and noise. Thunder and lightening and wind and rain sang in a cacophony of destruction.  
  
There was no time for thought or action, no time for reflection or fear. The hellfire energy collided with Arashiko dead on. Hot white fire ran through every vein in her body. So overwhelming was the pain and shock to her nervous system that she just stopped feeling all together. Everything became quiet, though the deep roar of releasing energies still filled the air. Then there was the most serene sensation of flying, being carried on the wings of angels. Flying to the greatest heights past all pain and death. All was shattered as the ground caught Arashiko's falling body. She fell even deeper into the ground, her mind falling into darkness as unconsciousness gripped her.  
  
Kaioden slowly descended down to the earth. The Saiyan lay on her back, her body embedded a few inches into the ground from her violent impact. The regal black armor of the Ginyu was scraped and scorched from the abdomen. Shreds of the once white cloak, now stained with dirt and blood, fluttered in the air. Kaioden spat in disgust. This weak Saiyan traitor had defiled both the honor of Arquisia and of the Ginyu Tokusentai! Kaioden kneeled beside Arashiko's body and tore the white emblem of the Ginyu from her chest, rending flesh and drawing blood in the process. Kaioden drew her foot back and kicked Arashiko in the side.  
  
"Wake up, traitor!!" Kaioden yelled bitterly as she kicked Arashiko again, making her body roll over. Arashiko was jerked back to the world of the living. Everything burned and ached, the world loomed over her eyes like a dream vision. Kaioden entered the vision and turned the world into a living nightmare. Kaioden caught her in the face this time with another viscous kick. Arashiko tumbled over, still unable to get to her feet. Begrudgingly her senses faded back into clarity and she could tell what was going on.  
  
I'm still alive!! I'm not going to let it end like this!!! I have to get up!! I have to fight!!! As long as there is still breath in me!!  
  
Arashiko caught Kaioden's foot in the air as she kicked again. She twisted her ankle and tripped Kaioden with a sweep of her leg. Arashiko pushed all pain to the back of her mind, this was the decider!! Fight or die!! No time for pain!!! Arashiko fought with all she had left, nothing but her own willpower. Kaioden was caught completely off guard; she had believed that Arashiko was near death.  
  
Her underestimation of the power of the Saiyan race will be her downfall!!  
  
Arashiko landed a kick to Kaioden's abdomen and an elbow right into the scorched and hollow-eyed side of Kaioden's face. Kaioden gripped the aggravated wound like a newborn child. Arashiko twisted her upper body around and snapped her leg forward, hammering Kaioden on the wounded side of her cranium. Kaioden toppled over and fell to the ground. Arashiko started for her immediately, but something made her stop. She gasped in horror. Her Saiyan tail fell to the ground. In all the fighting, she had forgotten about Ryuichi!! The bastard had cut off her tail!!!!  
  
Without her tail, Arashiko quickly reverted back to normal. The bones in her body shrank back to their usual size and her skin lost its brownish tint. Arashiko's sky blue eyes were returned to her. Her last, best hope for victory faded away into nothingness as power level fell dramatically back to normal. Arashiko spun around in panic, she didn't now what to do now!! Ryuichi materialized by his sister's side.  
  
Kaioden screamed insanely at him, "Damn it!! I told you Ryuichi!! This one is mine!!! Let me handle this!!!!" She got to her feet and pushed him aside. Ryuichi raised his arms in consent and stood back, cold eyes narrowed at Arashiko, a mocking smile stretched across his face.  
  
What do I do now!!?! WHAT THE HELL CAN I DO NOW?!?!!! Arashiko thought frantically as she backed away from the advancing enraged Kaioden. She searched around for absolutely anything that could help and found absolutely nothing. In the blink of an eye, Kaioden was upon her once again. Arashiko tried to find some way to defend herself, but she had used up all of her energy forming the Shi no Arashi. Without the elevated strength of the Ozaroo, she was no match for the transformed Kaioden. With no defense, Kaioden was able to seize Arashiko by the neck, her long claws wrapping around her neck effectively preventing any escape Arashiko tightly gripped Kaioden's forearm to no avail.  
  
"It's been fun, but I'm afraid your time has come!!" Kaioden sneered hatefully into Arashiko's face. Arashiko's eyes widened with terror as Kaioden 's other clawed hand lurched forward. Bitter blood came up in her throat. Her eyes blinked in stunned confusion.  
  
Kaioden had stabbed her long claws straight through her abdomen.  
  
Arashiko's breathing became labored, blood traced paths forming at the corners of her mouth. Kaioden brought her face close to hers and locked her red eyes with Arashiko's widened blue pupils. Kaioden let her writhe for a few moments, sating her appetite for blood and suffering.  
  
"Last blood is always the best." Kaioden said darkly as she withdrew her claws and threw Arashiko to the ground.  
  
Arashiko choked agonizingly for a few moments, then her eyes finally closed and she lay silent. Kaioden walked beside her and lifted her head up by her hair. She snorted disgustingly, "She's still alive," she brought her claws up to Arashiko's throat, "but not for long."  
  
Ryuichi's cold, commanding voice interrupted her gruesome fun, "We don't have time for this. Leave her, she's dead anyways. Frieza just contacted me, the King of the Saiyans is making his last stand. He wants us to return to base immediately."  
  
Kaioden growled menacingly and slammed Arashiko's head back down into the dirt. She got up and walked away from her desolated body.  
  
"That's one less disgusting Saiyan polluting our universe. By dawn their king will be dead, HAHAHAHAAA!!!"  
  
Kaioden's cackling laugh echoed over the landscape and rebounded in Arashiko's ears.  
  
She had failed her King, she had failed her brother Zorn, she had failed herself.  
  
Now there was nothing left but sweet oblivion.  
  
* * * 


	3. Born of the dragon

Child of the Storm  
  
Chapter 3: Born of the Dragon  
  
She didn't know how much time passed after that, everything seemed to blend together into eternity. Overhead, the storm still wailed and raged. Black clouds swirled violently in the once amber pure sky. Rain poured down over Arashiko and washed away some of the blood and dirt that her body lay in. Failure, she was a failure, she had failed the ones she cared most about and they would surely die because of it. She had been defeated utterly and devastatingly. She could have cried the rest of her life away there on the blood and rain-soaked ground, but she no longer had the strength to cry. So she let the heavens cry for her. Raindrops landed softly on her face and streaked down her cheeks, echoing the paths of the tears she couldn't cry. Around her, lightening flashed wildly as if the heavens themselves were opening to take her soul to oblivion. Arashiko closed her eyes and waited for death, there was nothing else to do. When she opened them again, a blue shimmer of lightening silhouetted a figure standing over her. The figure had pointed ears and a round bald head. It was short, the height of a child.  
  
So, is this what Hell is? Arashiko asked herself, for she knew that she had done nothing worthy of Heaven.  
  
In the glare of the storm, the figure had dark green skin and small antenna that protruded from just above the muscular ridge of each eye. There was no mistaking it, it was a Nameckian child. She wasn't dead yet! Arashiko feebly reached out to the child for help. With a cry of panic, the Nameck child backed away and almost tripped over himself as he ran off.  
  
"Wait! Please!!" Arashiko cried out weakly in vain. The child was gone. She let her arm fall back down to the ground. She didn't have the strength to call out any louder; nor to stay awake any longer. With one last sigh of defeat, Arashiko fell back into unconsciousness.  
  
* * *  
  
She awoke to the sound of pounding rain on the roof of a structure. She was inside some place out of the torrent. Little light penetrated the depths of the strange building she was in. The storm ravenously ate all the sunlight that had once covered the land. Arashiko rotated her head around, trying to get a sense of where she was. She was in some kind of building with a round ceiling where many bottles and vials lined the walls of the room. She turned her eyes towards the sound of soft voices talking. In the far corner of the room, a group of three adult Namecks were discussing something. Every so often one of them would glance back at her. They were obviously talking about her, their alien language indiscernible to Arashiko.  
  
"It's obviously a warrior. We don't know if he's hostile or friendly. If we heal him, it could pose a danger to the rest of us. The risk is too great. We must address the Elders about this."  
  
Their conversation was interrupted by a loud noise outside followed by muffled screams of panic. One of the Namecks shouted the word Kurai as they ran out of the room, leaving Arashiko by herself. More screams and yells rang outside, followed by the clash and scrape of metal. Arashiko would know the sound of battle anywhere. Her whole life had been spent in battle for King Vegeta. Arashiko stared up into the darkness. She pulled herself up and put her feet on the floor. The armor that had once covered her abdomen had been cut away leaving the Ginyu cuirass in ruins. Her stomach had been bandaged over. Some kind of strange yellow salve had been smothered into the cuts and contusions over her body.  
  
I owe these people my life. I must help them! I have to find the strength somewhere. . .  
  
Arashiko got to her feet and staggered forward as she tried to walk. She caught herself on a table ledge and lifted herself back to her feet. A pang of pain made her grip her stomach. The wounds from Kaioden's claws throbbed angrily. It was a pain and defeat she would not soon forget. Arashiko slowly made her way outside on wobbly legs. The Namecks were too caught up in the battle to notice her presence. The clash of swords and armor sounded all around her. Arashiko could hardly make out the attackers. They appeared just like normal Namecks, with pointed ears and antenna, except for the dusky gray color of their skin. Their eyes were also dramatically different than the other Namecks, they possessed a nocturnal red hue. All of the Namecks were humanoid in appearance. Arashiko made her way to a small clearing where the main part of the battle was taking place just outside the small village. The Namecks who had saved her were putting up a valiant fight, but they were losing badly. Their light purple blood stained the ground everywhere. Arashiko counted at least twenty enemies on the battlefield. Nearby she spotted the young Nameck child who had found her. He was running to the fallen warriors and kneeling over them. An alien saffron light emanated from the brave child's body and bounced between his two Nameckian antenna. Arashiko realized he was trying to heal what fallen warriors he could. Some string of compassion was pulled deep within her as she watched the child try to heal the dying Namecks. Without warning one of the enemy soldiers caught the child from behind. He pulled him up by the scruff of his neck and prepared to kill him with his long bloodstained blade. Arashiko blazed with anger, using the surge of fury to fuel her energy.  
  
No way I can beat them all. Maybe I can psyche them out! The others seemed to be afraid of me, that gives me an advantage!! The skies turned blacker than before as Arashiko summoned her remaining power. A storm of energy sent bolts of lightening pummeling down upon them. The rocks levitated from their places and hovered strangely in the air. The attackers looked up at her in terror, seeing her glowing blue eyes and illuminated body, they fled in horror from the battlefield. The defending Namecks stared at her in awe and stunned confusion, all their bright eyes turned towards her. Arashiko staggered to a nearby wall breathing heavily. She thanked the powers that be that they had not called her bluff. One of the braver warriors approached her to thank her but stopped short when she began to moan.  
  
"Ughh, dammit!!" Arashiko groaned, cluthing her stomach. The wounds to her midsection had ripped open from the sudden action so soon after her battle with Kaioden. She collapsed to the ground, leaving a streak of red blood on the wall.  
  
* * *  
  
When she awoke again, the Nameck child was standing by her side. She was back in the same domed room once more.  
  
"Kiva dantuna. Atuna ackba." the child spoke to her softly.  
  
Arashiko shook her head in reply, "I.I can't understand you. . ." She cringed and turned over to face him. God how her stomach hurt!!!  
  
I'll get Kaioden for this!! I swear I won't die till I feel her blood on my hands!!!  
  
The child brought a strangely shaped gourd up to her mouth. Arashiko let the cool liquid wash down her throat. It tasted like water with a bitter edge to it. Somehow, the peculiar concoction made the pain in her stomach relent a little. Arashiko looked up gratefully at the young Nameck and nodded her head. The child put the flask down and placed the tips of his fingers on her temples. Arashiko felt a strange tingling sensation in her ears.  
  
"Can you understand me now?" The child asked.  
  
Arashiko gaped in surprise, "Y.Yes!! Who are you??"  
  
The youth smiled warmly and replied, "My name is Nail. I'm the son of the leader of this village, Kaiochuru. Who are you?"  
  
Arashiko looked away from him, sorrow overlaying her reply, "I'm nothing."  
  
Nail stared at her confused, "You must be something, you're here aren't you?" He asked with naive bafflement.  
  
Arashiko sighed and softly responded to him, "My name's Arashiko."  
  
"Thank you, Arashiko, for saving our village. Thank you for saving my life", Nail said as he stared at her with wide grateful eyes.  
  
A fit of violent coughing suddenly took her. She tasted the blood in her mouth yet again. She felt so sleepy. It took all her strength not to fall into the trap of slumber. Arashiko knew what it meant. She was dying.  
  
Nail gasped and tried to reassure her, "We're going to take you to my father and the Clan Elders!! They'll heal you just hang on!!!"  
  
Nail's worried face faded into darkness as all sound ceased and Arashiko fell into a dreamless coma.  
  
* * *  
  
The council of Elders stood in a circle in a great clearing at the center of the village, their ancient faces bent in deep contemplation. At their feet, the Dragonballs were arranged in a circle. The strange globes shone a brilliant orange in the encroaching blackness of the storm. Tiny stars etched into each stone showed their order. There was a matter of great importance to be discussed--the warrior who had come in the midst of the storm that still raged across the land. The eldest and wisest of the Namecks, Kaiochuru, stood listening to his youngest son's appeal. Nail spoke with much vigor and determination and with a force that belied his youthful appearance.  
  
"Father, you must listen to me. The warrior saved our village!! He saved me!! If it was not for this warrior, we would have all been slaughtered by the Kurai! The least we can do is heal him!"  
  
A clamor of voices arose from the elders. One Elder argued that the warrior was powerful and might destroy them upon being restored. Another debated that such power would be useful against the Kurai. Kaiochuru silenced them all with a simple raise of his hand. The elder Nameck's kindly features folded in introspection. The warrior could be the key to defeating such evil and powerful enemies as the Kurai who threatened his Dragon Clan.  
  
"Father, please . . ." Nail implored further.  
  
Kaiochuru silenced him with a quick gesture and raise of his wrinkled palm. Nail bowed his head and was silent. The wise Elder signaled over to two of his soldiers who stood just outside the Elder's ceremonial meeting and bade them bring the warrior to the center of the Circle. They soon returned and laid the battered warrior in the midst of the Elders and the orange globes born of Kaiochuru himself. He stepped forward and gently covered Arashiko's forehead with his hand. He sensed something in her. She had a strong spirit, a good spirit, but there was something dark he sensed deep down inside her. It was hate and anger. Kaiochuru shook his head slowly. This warrior was at a nexus, her spirit could be led towards good or evil.  
  
"Listen to me, my children", Kaiochuru's deep, discerning voice resonated throughout the clearing, "I have known what it is to have good and evil in one's spirit. I have walked that path alone and endured. This warrior has the same division of spirit that sired you. But we must not fear evil in any person for one can only do good if one is given the chance. With such power as this warrior possesses, we can end the violence in our world before it consumes our lives and the lives of our children. And perhaps we can help another escape the same fate that has divided our people and our spirits."  
  
Kaiochuru stepped back away from Arashiko's comatose body and stood before the golden spheres.  
  
"We must summon Purunga, the Eternal Dragon. Only his power can heal the wounds that ail this brave warrior." The other Elders bowed their heads in silent consent and stepped back, leaving Kaiochuru to perform the ceremony of invoking the Eternal Dragon of Nameck.  
  
Kaiochuru spread his arms out over the Dragonballs and began to chant monotonely. Each of the orbs began to pulse with golden radiance. The pulsing of the globes attuned themselves with his heartbeat as his booming voice spoke the words to summon the Dragon.  
  
"Takara pao Purunga tipa rei paro."  
  
A swirl of violent wind erupted from the glowing spheres and blew outward from their center. The storm clouds converged over the horizon and centered over the Dragonballs. The clouds threw spears of blue lightening down angrily upon the ground around Arashiko's pallid body. Golden light streaked forward from every illuminated orb in a tumult of primal energy that concentrated in the sky overhead. The sparkling chaotic light began to take the vague shape of a dragon as it spun and swirled in the air. The formless was given form as a great dragon materialized from the golden womb of energy. It was a truly awesome being to behold. It floated in the sky, its long scaly body extending for almost half a mile upwards. Its robust underbelly was covered with plates of brilliant golden scales that caught the reflections of every shard of light and flash of lightening. Brilliant emerald was the rest of its armored hide. The mass of its upper torso was strangely humanoid in appearance except for the heightened muscular proportion of its mighty shoulders. Black spines protruded from its heavy shoulders and ran all the way from the middle of its forehead down the entire length of its extended body to the very tip of its tail, which curled about many times in the air in magnificent coils. Four prongs accented the omnipotent glare of its radiant red eyes.  
  
"You have summoned me from my slumber. Give unto me thy three wishes and unto you they will be granted. As it is written so it shall be done." The Dragon's reverberating voice boomed through every soul in its presence.  
  
"Purunga, Eternal Dragon of my own blood", Kaiochuru shouted back to be heard clearly over the storm, "My wish is for this fallen warrior to be healed in body and restored to health."  
  
The eyes of the Dragon blazed brilliantly as they contained the boundless power within. Arashiko's body slowly rose off of the ground and levitated in front of the great dragon. The Dragonballs swirled around her as laces of delicate energy traced from the golden aura of the dragon and ensnared Arashiko's limbs.  
  
Arashiko's eyes fluttered open from her coma. Golden brilliance filled her vision as an awesome dragon loomed over her. It felt like she was floating in the middle of a great sea, with no end but the horizon. Arashiko blinked in wonder and closed her eyes. She could not resist the sleep any longer. With one gentle exhalation, she breathed her last. Splendid energy rushed into every pore of her being and into the wounds that plagued her body. When the profound light left her, it took all presence of pain and injury.  
  
"Your wish has been granted", the voice of the Dragon echoed, "But the one you seek to be restored has left this plane."  
  
"Than I invoke the second wish", Kaiochuru said calmly, "Let the fleeing soul of this warrior be returned to its body."  
  
Another gleam of the Dragon's fathomless ruby eyes and lightening erupted from the sky and passed through Arashiko's lifeless body. Blinding flashes of pure white light exploded all around as her body illuminated brightly for a few divine moments then went dull again.  
  
"Make your third wish." Purunga demanded.  
  
"Restore the mind and body from the coma that keeps this warrior asleep."  
  
One final flash of the Dragon's eyes and energies converged in Arashiko's body. The Dragon's splendid countenance once again melted back into golden formlessness , its beaming voice resonated everywhere.  
  
"Your wish has been granted. I bid thee farewell."  
  
The seven burning celestial globes throbbed with energy and began to rise into the sky as Arashiko's body slowly descended down to the ground. With one last parting flash of radiance, the Dragonballs separated to the ends of Nameck.  
  
Arashiko jerked awake, just in time to see the golden paths that the Dragonballs left in their fleeing paths. Arashiko inhaled violently, the first breath taken for a new existence. She felt so unusual, so exhilarated. Some strange new power flowed through her veins. No pain racked her body anymore. She felt her stomach for the four wounds left by Kaioden's claws. They weren't there anymore!? Arashiko looked down at her own hands as if they didn't even belong to her. When she dared to look up, the jaded figures of the Nameck Elders stared at her from their places in the Circle, their emerald features gleaming in the afterglow of the Dragon. The mist of rain floated mysteriously about them, giving them all the seeming of specters. Arashiko's blue eyes fixed on the strong, benevolent figure of Kaiochuru as he stepped forward and stood in front of her.  
  
"Welcome to the world of the living, Santi Uru. . .  
  
. . . Child of the Storm."  
  
* * *  
  
Arashiko laid her black tattered armor across the table and inspected it. Jagged cracks ran all across it, showing the signs of the past battle. She was dressed in a long white robe that the Namecks had provided her. Underneath it she still wore the sleek, segmented black body suit that she had worn beneath the Ginyu armor. It was relatively undamaged as compared to the rest of her worn armor. A couple of days had passed and the Namecks had kindly provided her with her own domed hut on the edge of the village. The quaint little place kept out the elements decently enough and provided a comfortable little hole to nest in, but Arashiko was planning on a short stay. She had to get back to planet Vegeta. She had to know what had become of her King. She popped the top off of the vial of fixative that had been attached to her belt. It was a miracle it had survived the battle intact. Cautiously she poured the inky black fluid into the spider-webbed cracks and fractures in her armor. She tried not to waste a single drop of the precious fluid. The ebon substance sank into every cleft in the armor and glowed dully for a few moments, then turned dark black again. It soon hardened into the armor, repairing it as best as one single vial could. Arashiko contemplatively ran her fingers across the four holes left in the abdomenal piece of the armor, feeling the raised edges from the force of the vicious stab. They were too large and deep to repair with what she had, just like the wounds to her pride. Arashiko's brow creased sharply in anger as she remembered her appalling defeat. She unconsciously gripped her abdomen where the fatal blow had been dealt. The word failure echoed relentlessly through her mind. Arashiko gripped her face in her hands to make it stop.  
  
"It must have been terrible", Nail's soft voice addressed her from the door, "Who did this to you?"  
  
Arashiko stood up nervously and shook her head. After a few embarrassed moments, she sat back down and tried to explain it in terms that Nail would understand.  
  
"It was a demon named Kaioden", Arashiko spat with disgust, "She was sent by a demon king named Frieza. They're different, like me. They come from another world. Frieza wished to destroy the leader of my clan, Vegeta, and I tried to get away to warn him, but the demon king sent Kaioden and her brother Ryuichi to kill me. We ended up fighting on your world because my ship crashed here."  
  
Nail blinked at her, a little confused at first, then nodded his head in understanding, "This demon must have been infinitely strong to defeat one as powerful as you!!", Nail cried out with enthusiasm that Arashiko did not share.  
  
Arashiko turned away from him and got up, "No matter," determination deepening her words, "I will have my day of reckoning." She began to strap the pieces of repaired armor back on.  
  
The little Nameck cocked his head curiously at her and stared innocently, "Wow! You must train alot!!"  
  
"Some.", Arashiko answered, disinterested, her mind focused on the task of getting the armor primed.  
  
"You must be very strong, you have very developed chest muscles!!"  
  
Arashiko stopped what she was doing. Her face reddened a little when she realized what he was staring at. She couldn't believe this little kid was so straight-forward.  
  
"W.What??" Arashiko asked in disbelief.  
  
"Huh? Why are you getting angry?" Nail asked naively.  
  
"It's not polite to stare at a girl's breasts you know!!" Arashiko scolded him angrily, "GLUUL!! And you're a little kid too!!" Arashiko moved to push the puny pervert out of the hut.  
  
Nail backed away, "Huh?? What's a gurrll?" Nail struggled over the pronunciation of the new word.  
  
Arashiko stared at him for a few long moments, one eyebrow cocked in bafflement.  
  
"You mean there are no female Namecks?!?"  
  
Nail rolled his eyes back thoughtfully as he tried to grasp the concept of what a girl was, "Err, no." He finally answered.  
  
Arashiko's mouth fell open with surprise, "Then how do you?" she made a couple motions in the air with her hands, she searched for a word to say, "Procreate?"  
  
Nail giggled gaily as if she had just asked the dumbest question in the world and answered her, "We Namecks come from eggs. The Eldest Nameck, my father Kaiochuru, is our sire."  
  
Arashiko stood silent with one finger raised in thought.  
  
Weird!!  
  
She finally shrugged and started to gather her things to go. She scooped up the broken scouter from the table.  
  
Maybe I can use the spare parts to repair the panels on my ship.  
  
"Wait, where are you going?!?" Nail bounded after Arashiko as she stepped outside. It was beginning to get sunny again. Streaks of the suns' rays poked through the thinning gray clouds. All that was left of the torrent was a brisk wind.  
  
"I'm going to kill Frieza!!" Arashiko replied to him as she prepared to take off to the crash site of her ship, "Tell your father that I thank him deeply for saving my life." She patted the little Nameck on his round green head and then took off.  
  
Nail yelled after her desperately, "B...but!! Wait!! You're not strong enough to defeat Frieza!!!" He tried to run after her fleeing form, but she soon faded into the sky. He drooped his head in disappointment and stared into the vastness of the vibrant yellow atmosphere.  
  
* * *  
  
It took Arashiko a couple of hours to locate her ship without the use of her scouter, but finally it appeared on the horizon. It lay open with its innards fully exposed to the elements like the abandoned shell of a hermit crab. By the brightening light of day she could see the deep tears on the outer hull of the small pod. The spare parts from the scouter would not be enough to make it fly again. She needed to find more circuits and plating for the outer hull. She wasn't going anywhere for a very long time. The words of the little Nameck echoed through her thoughts.  
  
You're not strong enough to defeat Frieza!!!  
  
She knew he was right. She couldn't even defeat Kaioden.  
  
What possessed me to think that I could take Frieza??! But what about the King?? I must return to him!! I must find out if he is still alive!! Arashiko implored the little voice in her thoughts. She begged herself, is he still alive??!!  
  
Tears came to her eyes as the little voice answered her. Deep down she knew, she felt it despairingly in her heart. The King is already dead! Murdered at the hands of Frieza, the one you couldn't kill!!! If you are going to leave, you need power.  
  
Where could she find such power? It would take much training and fighting to ever reach the near infinite level of the all-powerful Frieza! It suddenly hit her like lightening.  
  
The Dragonballs!!  
  
Arashiko brought to mind the orbs that had she had seen streaking the sky like falling stars after awakening from her coma. Nail had called them Dragonballs. With them, the Namecks had wished her back to life and with them she could gain the ultimate power she needed to defeat Frieza. She knew just how she could get to the orbs.  
  
Santi Uru, that's what Kaiochuru had called her. She figured that the Namecks thought that she was some kind of warrior sent to help them; she could use that to obtain the Dragonballs.  
  
She would be their Santi Uru and she would get her power.  
  
She would defeat Frieza and all who stood in her way.  
  
* * *  
  
Arashiko twitched her fingers nervously. Kaiochuru ominously loomed over her sitting high atop a white throne with spikes protruding out of its pinnacle, which gave him the appearance of wearing a great crown. He was proportionally bigger than Arashiko and his large form was very imposing. The Great Hall spread out before Arashiko and Kaiochuru. It was abound with the simplistic splendor of shining floors and white metallic walls. Somehow, the rays of the sun were able to seep through the walls and light the whole chamber with golden brilliance. Kaiochuru's dwelling abided just outside of the village. It sat high atop the face of a small ridge overlooking the community as a protective shrine. Kaiochuru's abode was made of several domed lodges that intertwined together to form one large complex.  
  
Kaiochuru stared down at Arashiko, his wrinkled and aged features echoing the depths of his great wisdom. The Eldest Nameck did most certainly show his age. His once sturdy and strong form had sagged with the trial of years. His once vibrant emerald skin had faded and grayed. Yellow spots of age dotted his face around his eyes and across his bald head. The rosy pink plates of skin all Namecks possessed that adorned Kaiochuru's forearms, legs, biceps and abdomen had faded to a dusty gold. To Arashiko, he looked as if he was silently forming an opinion about her for he said nothing but just stared forward at her contemplatively. He had asked Arashiko to come to The Great Hall so he could speak with her. As always, Nail stood nearby on the side.  
  
"I would like to thank you for what you have done," Kaiochuru's strong, but gentle voice cracked the silence, "You saved my children."  
  
Arashiko bowed her head in acknowledgment and replied to him softly, "My debt is repaid in full, you saved my very life, and you even healed my wounds. I cannot be more grateful for what you have done."  
  
Kaiochuru's kindly face saddened, "There will be more death if this war does not end soon. More of my children will die."  
  
Arashiko stared at him, confused by his words, "Who are the people that attacked the village earlier?"  
  
Kaiochuru sighed deeply and prepared to tell his story, "They are the Kurai. They too are my children. I am the Eldest of my people, for I am the first of the Nameck. I lived here alone on this green world. I do not remember where I came from. All I remember is that I came to be. But even alone, I did not have peace. I possessed the same duality of spirit that I sense in your soul. There was a balance of good and evil within me. The balance became tipped and the evil was prevailing. Voices spoke to me in the darkness of my sleep. I felt as if the souls of many were combined within me. To rid myself of this evil and the voices that plagued me, I purged them physically and mentally from my body. In doing so, I created the first Namecks. Each one possessed a personality and spirit individual to them. They were my children. The eldest of my children came to be the Masters of Nameck and the leaders of their own clans. I left them to find peace in the mountains of our world. After the creation of my eldest children, I formed my own clan so that I would not be alone. My clan is called the Purunga, the Dragon Clan, because it is my will alone that created the Dragonballs. Only those of my clan have the power to create them.  
  
I thought I had found peace at long last, but it did not come to pass. My children fought amongst themselves. They warred when they should have loved. They killed when they should have embraced. The descendants of the Evil within me which I purged from my spirit long ago are the ones who attack us. They are the Kurai, the Dark Ones. They seek to control the power of the Eternal Dragon of Nameck, Purunga, and to accomplish this, they must have me. My youngest son, Nail, has been trained in the ancient ways of our people, he has been taught the Art of War. But he is still too young. He cannot defeat the Kurai who kill my Clan. Nail is only twenty- four years old and not yet powerful enough to fight the Kurai."  
  
Arashiko gasped. He's twenty four??! He's older than me! Damn! Maybe he wasn't such a puny kid after all!  
  
"How my heart dies to see my children kill one another", Kaiochuru saddened immensely, his gentle features sweeping sorrowfully, "If the Kurai are able to obtain the Dragonballs, all things living in nature will be thrown into endless chaos and death. That is why you must help us Santi Uru, Child of the Storm. We are not powerful enough to defeat the Dark Ones and I cannot use the Dragon against them."  
  
Arashiko locked her blue eyes with Kaiochuru's dark, imperceptible pupils and gave him her word, "In light of what you have done for me, I give you my solemn vow that I will help your people. Maybe I can save a life instead of taking one."  
  
Kaiochuru looked sideways at her, a little perplexed by her words, "What do you mean?"  
  
Arashiko turned around away from him and stared into the darkness of her own mind, "It is a story for another time." She walked out of the room, the white robe she wore fluttering behind her like the spirits of the departed on the wind.  
  
She slowly walked along the trail that wound about the ridge that Kaiochuru's lodge dwelt upon. From this height she could get a good view of the Nameckian landscape. The distant landscapes flowed with purple and blue hues, but jagged upheavals and cracks in the flat landscape exposed the earthy orange and brown tones of the land's underbelly. The strange trees dotted the landscape everywhere. They too were of purple shades with a round nest of leaves at their tops. The clear sky burned with the light of two suns that stained the sky with yellow, a perfect compliment of the violet tints of the ground.  
  
"Wow!!! You're really going to help us!! Thank you!! Thank you!!!" Nail bounded up beside her, his agile little figure jumping up and down with excitement.  
  
Arashiko tried to walk forward but the hyper little Nameck blocked her way with his bouncing form. She gently tried to get him out of the way with a push.  
  
"If you want me to help your village fight the Kurai, you gotta move outta the way!!!" Still, Nail avoided her gentle proddings and jumped up and down around her like a wild man.  
  
"Oh, thank you so much Arashiko gurrl!!" Nail exclaimed happily.  
  
Arashiko finally gave in and let the little Nameck walk with her.  
  
She walked to the very edge of the path which dropped off about fifty feet. Her foot pushed a rock off of the rim and it disappeared into the distance. It took a few seconds for her to hear the crack it made as it crashed into the ground below. It was a long way down.  
  
Arashiko drew in long breath of the humid air and stepped back.  
  
Well, this is one way to see if I'm truly healed.  
  
With one gigantic leap of faith, Arashiko jumped from the edge of the path as Nail watched on in astonishment. The white robe trailed behind her and gathered the breeze. She spread her arms to kiss the wind. Below the ground came rushing up to meet her with its solid body. The land shook violently as Arashiko smashed into it. She landed in a crouch, her feet dug in several inches from the impact. Arashiko slowly rose to her feet. Silently, the reality set in that she had made the distant jump without being damaged at all. She took in another long, deep breath and let out the loudest and most joyful laugh she had laughed in a very long time. She could feel the raw power coursing through her veins and through every inch of her body.  
  
Kaioden's in for it now!! When a Saiyan is defeated we only get stronger!!!! HAHAHAAHHH!!!!!!  
  
Her hearty laughing was cut short when the ground shook beneath her feet as another impact jarred the earth. Arashiko snapped around to see Nail standing beside her. Her mouth dropped in utter wonder. The kid had made the jump!!?  
  
Nail complacently looked up to the top of the ridge they had jumped off of and shielded his eyes from the glare, "Hell of a jump huh?"  
  
Arashiko smiled as she and Nail walked towards the village.  
  
"Kid, you and I are going to make a great team." Arashiko stated with respect, placing a hand on Nail's shoulder.  
  
They walked together towards the village, the round domed lodges appearing as white shells on the horizon.  
  
"So, why does your father call me Santi Uru, child of the storm all the time, Nail?" Arashiko asked. The strange title had been bothering her with its meaning since it had first been bestowed upon her by Kaiochuru.  
  
"Well, you came to us during the storm. Only the summoning of the Eternal Dragon causes great storms like the one that occurred when you came to us. The storm was an omen that something powerful was coming, and that something was you. On that day, we saw an occurrence that only happens once in a millennium, we saw the Dark Sun." Nail replied, his voice full of wonder and admiration.  
  
They saw the Moon Beam. Arashiko thought to herself.  
  
"The Dragon has truly blessed us to send a powerful warrior such as you to deliver us from the evil of the Kurai."  
  
Arashiko sighed and patted the little Nameck's shoulder, "I hope I can live up to your expectations."  
  
* * *  
  
The next day, Kaiochuru called her again, this time to the clearing at the center of the village where they had first summoned the Dragon to heal her. Kaiochuru was there to greet her at the center of the courtyard.  
  
"If you are going to fight the Kurai, you must know the Art of War." Kaiochuru said as he handed her a long, guilded sword forged with a strange white metal in the blade. The ebony hilt and handgaurd were wonderful works of artistry. Small intricate designs traced about the hilt and base of the beautiful blade.  
  
Arashiko lifted the sword and took a look at it for a couple of seconds, then handed it back to Kaiochuru with a slight smile on her face, "Kaiochuru, I already know how to fight, I don't use weapons, Saiyans use their hands", she said as she balled her fists and lifted them up to her face forcefully.  
  
"You must learn to fight as we do." Kaiochuru replied as he shook his head, "There are some advantages. Lanan. . ." Kaiochuru called to someone behind him.  
  
A strong, middle-aged Nameck stepped forward and bowed to Arashiko. He was one of the young soldiers that protected the village. Lanan was clad in strange red armor that covered the sections of his muscles with armored plates. The shoulder guards ran upwards from his shoulders and curved to points. He drew his long white sword, similar to the one Kaiochuru had offered Arashiko, and took a stance.  
  
"This is Lanan, one of the foremost and skilled soldiers in the Dragon Clan. He is a protector of the village and the Elders." Kaiochuru introduced the young, zealous warrior, "He wishes the honor of testing your strength."  
  
Arashiko smugly replied, "Hmmp! I accept that challenge!"  
  
Kaiochuru once again offered her the sword, but Arashiko refused it. What harm could he do to her with his puny little sword? Especially with the strong armor she had on. She waved Lanan forward with her hand, she was willing to let him even try to make a mark on her with the sword.  
  
Lanan took her bluff and jumped forward with his sword raised high over his head. Arashiko smiled at him, unmoved from her spot. She stood with her hands on her hips waiting for him to make a move. Lanan brought the sword down. The blade sang as it sliced through the air. Lanan backed away from her perplexed that his sword had caused no damage. Arashiko stood still smiling arrogantly at him.  
  
"W. .What?!", Arashiko blurted out surprised when she lifted her hand up to her face and found that it covered with crimson blood. The sword had cut her in the side. Arashiko clutched the wound and glared over at Lanan, her gaze full of hot rage.  
  
"Dammit!!" she cursed him, she cursed the sword, she cursed the ground, she cursed the tree, she cursed everything. The wound wasn't deep and it wasn't life-threatening, but it certainly was a deep wound to her Saiyan pride. The Nameckian sword had pierced even Saiyan design armor!! Lanan stepped farther away from her, afraid of another outburst of power from her fury, for she looked sincerely pissed.  
  
Nail ran up to Arashiko, "Are you okay?? Let me see!"  
  
"DAMMIT!!!" Arashiko still raged. She tried to push Nail away, it was even more embarrassing to have the little kid try to see if she was okay. But as usual, Nail was relentless and she finally had to let him see the cut after much evasion and embarrassment.  
  
"Grrrr!!!" Arashiko growled as Nail placed his hands on the cut to her side. Yellow light emanated from his hands.  
  
Arashiko started back, "What the hell are you doing?" She asked in shock.  
  
The light disappeared from him, as did the wound to her side.  
  
Arashiko stared at him, her eyes full of wonder, "You have got to teach me how to do that!" she finally said to Nail.  
  
Nail wiped some sweat off of his brow and replied, "It's a gift learned with practice." He sighed deeply, a little exasperated by the healing process, "But for everything there is a price. You must listen to my father. Let us teach you, maybe we can help you with your quest to defeat the demon king, Frieza, but you must listen to us."  
  
Kaiochuru stepped forward and held out the snow white sword to her. Nail nodded to her assuredly. The light of the two Nameckian suns reflected off the blade and illuminated her cerulean eyes. Arashiko begrudgingly took up the sword.  
  
"There are some advantages after all, Wise Nameck." She acknowledged Kaiochuru's great wisdom and brandished the sword in his honor.  
  
She turned to Lanan and took her own stance, the sword held over her head in one hand, "Again?"  
  
The Nameck cowered back a little then finally took his stance. Arashiko rushed forward and brought the sword down upon him. Lanan nimbly sidestepped her charge and Arashiko overextended her reach. The weight of the sword made her stumble forward a little. She almost threw down the sword and prepared to clobber Lanan with her bare hands but both Nail and Kaiochuru eyed her with a disapproving glare and she continued to use the sword clumsily. She swiped at Lanan again, missing both times.  
  
Damn these little Namecks are fast!! Arashiko thought as Lanan evaded every amateur thrust and jab she took at him. Lanan suddenly stopped and sheathed his sword. He glanced back at Kaiochuru and Nail. Arashiko followed his look and found that Nail and Kaiochuru were both on the verge of laughing out loud. Their green faces twisted as they tried to contain their laughter.  
  
"GRRRRR!!!" Arashiko growled as her face reddened with anger.  
  
Finally they could hold their laughter in no more and they burst into a roar of sniggering.  
  
"Arashiko gurrl, you can't fight like that, HAHA!" giggled Nail.  
  
Arashiko walked up to him and shook the sword at him angrily "Well how the hell do you expect me to use this damned thing?!?" Arashiko burst out furiously.  
  
Nail drew his own sword from an elaborate gold sheath that hung from his thigh. He skillfully placed his hands about the hilt and slashed downward in the air and stepped forward into a stance, one leg bent and the other spread back. Arashiko stared at him stunned. She still couldn't believe how much skill this small child possessed.  
  
But then again he's not really a child is he? He's older than I am, I'm only nineteen!!!!  
  
"Follow me." Nail said as he motioned to her to follow his movements.  
  
Arashiko blinked a couple times, still astonished, and then tried to mimic his stance. She spread her feet apart, the forward foot pointed outward, the back foot pointed away, and the sword held in the right hand with the left hand leading in front for balance.  
  
"Now let yourself be as a reed in the wind. Bend to the breeze." Nail instructed gently, his voice filled with the wisdom of years of training. He swept forward with the blade, spinning his body and the blade gracefully; one could not think that such a graceful movement could disembowel someone. Arashiko mimicked the movement almost exactly, the blade singing through the air.  
  
"Good! You're a quick learner!!" Nail praised, excited by her beginning skill.  
  
Arashiko stepped back and smiled at him, giving him a wink, "Thanks kid."  
  
* * *  
  
"Clear your mind, free your soul, and release all anger. True power can only be felt with one's heart."  
  
Arashiko listened diligently to Nail's teachings. She had since learned that the Nameck possessed a great wisdom beyond his years. They sat side by side with their legs crossed Indian style on a beautifully woven mat. Their eyes were closed in deep concentration.  
  
"Now", Nail's soft voice guided the lesson, "Feel with your soul, reach out with your inner strength and heart. Feel the powers that reside here on our world."  
  
Arashiko breathed in deeply, allowing the calmness of mind and heart to guide her soul. She reached out to the world, wishing to touch everything with her own spirit. Beside her she could feel the gentle flowing energy of Nail, the pure energy that coursed through his body. She let herself float farther in the pulse of energy that she felt in every living thing around her. Suddenly it assaulted her, the evil saturated her senses. She could see them in her thoughts, the Kurai, with their burning red eyes and dark skin. One of them in particular burned eternally into her vision. He was their leader, the first descendent of the Evil within Kaiochuru. His name was Yugure and she could see his black visage besieged of any light and goodness. She could feel their profound darkness. With a snap she withdrew to her own senses and self like a ray of night escaping the rising sun. She had never truly felt evil till that moment.  
  
So that's what it feels like? Evil. Arashiko wondered if she had the same darkness deep down inside, hiding away for now and waiting for the right moment to strike like an eager predator hiding within herself. She turned to Nail who nodded knowingly at her.  
  
"My father felt the same thing in you. The same darkness. But there is a way to remedy what is in your heart, fear, hate, defeat, the need to be strong and to survive, the need to kill. You must follow the Way and find your own path." Nail preached to her the knowledge of the Ancient ways of Nameck.  
  
Arashiko locked her gaze with his, "No one has ever known what is in my heart."  
  
Nail stared back at her, unblinking in the face of the harsh tone of voice she used, "Only you can change what is in your heart."  
  
Arashiko answered him with silence. The wind wailed mournfully in the stillness. Arashiko's black hair floated wraith-like in the air and framed her face which darkened with hidden emotions and thoughts. Finally she released the anger she held within.  
  
"It's true. I've killed men, women, children. I wiped entire planets clean of life and love and everything good. All for the glory and the honor. It was all I've ever known and ever been taught, all for the King. All for the pride of my race. We killed for the pleasure of it. We stood in the blood of dead worlds and let it wash through our fingers. I've looked into my heart and found nothing. What I see can't be changed. It's too late to try."  
  
Nail smiled at her compassionately, "All things change. People change. You have, you just refuse to realize it. You saved my village and you saved me. Father saw it, and I see it. There is good in you. We both know it, we both feel it. You just have to find it and embrace it."  
  
"But you can't change the past, no matter how your heart has moved." Arashiko said in a sorrowful whisper, tears gathering in her eyes. Her thoughts floated back to Brana, the friend she had gained and lost all within the sliver of a moment in her life. And it was her fault that she was gone. She had taken her life into her own hands and crushed it, blown it away like rose petals in the breeze.  
  
"You mustn't live in the past. You must live for the future. Learn from the mistakes we all make," Nail consoled, "Maybe here we can help you change."  
  
Shades of the past, present and future caught in the blue shine of Arashiko's glistening eyes. Despite tears and sadness, she smiled sweetly at Nail. Someone finally treated her like a person, not a weapon or a soldier to be sacrificed. Maybe through him she could find some kind of redemption, at least in the eyes of one person.  
  
Without warning, Arashiko grabbed her forehead. It felt like a thousand sharp needles were stabbing into her mind! She jerked to her feet and fell back down to her knees, pressing her fists to her throbbing temples. She had opened a door when she felt the Kurai and now everything rushed through, overwhelming her.  
  
She clenched her fists and looked up, sweat running down her face, "They're here!! The Kurai!!! They're here!!!! Can't you feel it!??"  
  
Nail jumped to his feet in surprise. He stared at her, stunned and confused.  
  
"It's him!! The Yugure!! Their leader!!! GAAHHH!" The rush of new senses was excruciating to Arashiko. She could feel the pure Evil permeating the entire existence of Yugure. It was sickening and painful, the feeling of being cast into complete darkness and locked there. She could see his face in her thoughts, laughing and burning eternally with those red eyes. Arashiko yanked Nail up and pulled him back towards the village.  
  
"Wait? What are you talking about??" Nail blurt out confused.  
  
Arashiko said the knowledge that burned in her mind.  
  
"Darkness is here!! The one of Evil, the one that Kaiochuru spoke of!!!"  
  
Nail's eyes widened with fear. They ran as fast as they could to the village, their legs racing against the sunset.  
  
There arose such a wailing in the air that it drowned out all hope and goodness.  
  
The Kurai were attacking the village.  
  
* * * 


	4. Joined in Darkness

Child of the Storm  
  
Chapter 4: Joined in Darkness  
  
They ran through the chaos that enveloped the village. Thick clouds of black smoke from the burning huts made them choke and lose their way. Screams and cries echoed all around them as the battle raged within the smog of fire. Through the smoke Arashiko could see that Nail had drawn his golden sword to fight. It shined through the gloom of the battle with a brilliant white glow. Arashiko's throbbing head pounded worse as she was tackled to the ground by a flying figure. She could feel strong hands constricting her throat. With her superior strength, Arashiko grasped the wrists of her attacker and crushed the delicate bones with a simple squeeze of her hands. The Kurai screamed out in agony as his body was hefted into the air and thrown into a nearby wall. Arashiko made sure he was dead with a quick blast of energy that caught him directly in the chest. His violet blood splattered into the black mists. Arashiko whirled around to see if Nail was okay. She was astonished to see the little Nameck slicing through the enemy with skilled strokes of his blade. Nail was a warrior at heart, possessed of a true fighting spirit almost as fierce as hers. Arashiko took one last look at him and decided to leave him to fight by himself. He was capable enough. Something was calling her, something that she had to answer alone. She sliced a path through the black haze of smoke and enemies and stepped into the center of the battle, into the heart of darkness.  
  
Arashiko spun to the side as a Kurai took a swipe at her with his wicked blade. They seemed to melt from the darkness and the shadows as if they were a part of it themselves. She had to avoid getting hit by their blades. The sabers they carried sliced through armor as easily as blood passes through water. All she had for defense were the simple brown and white robes that had been provided for her. She had no time to change into her armor. Everything was happening too fast. The bitter black smoke pressed at her from every side, choking all her senses. White lightening erupted outward from Arashiko's body and penetrated the darkness in an effort to clear the encroaching fog. The black nothingness withdrew from her light all at once. It hovered around the area mysteriously, almost as if an invisible circle had been formed around the battlefield.  
  
Needles of pain penetrated her mind once again. Arashiko closed her eyes tightly and cradled her forehead with her hands. When she opened her eyes again, she saw him there, standing in the center of the battlefield, the darkness wrapping around his form like a lover. His eyes were the same red eyes that burned into her mind. It was Yugure! His skin was a dark, impenetrable grey, black as midnight. The darkness of his skin echoed the darkness of his evil soul. Black plated armor melded with the nightfall tones of his skin, making him appear as one flowing conformation of shadow. The only thing to set off his appearance were his blood red eyes and pointed fangs. He held no weapon nor did he need any.  
  
Yugure beckoned Arashiko forward with a wave of his black fingers, "I've been waiting for you, Arashiko. You heard my summoning."  
  
Arashiko stood at attention a few feet away from him, muscles tensed, "How do you know me?! What do you want!!!?"  
  
Yugure smiled, showing off his honed fangs, "You."  
  
"Hmmp!!" Arashiko took a fighting stance and ground her sharp blue eyes defiantly into his, "You can sure as hell try!!"  
  
"Don't you feel it, Santi Uru? The Evil inside of you. It is what brought you here to me. It echoes my own. You are a shadow of me."  
  
Arashiko shrugged off the annoying pain that ebbed away in her mind. The summoning.  
  
"Come now. You can feel it deep down inside yourself. Its festering there like a gangrenous wound, waiting to spread to the rest of your soul. Come! Join us! Join the Kurai and feed the Evil that you know your soul succumbs to!! You only protect these weak Dragon Clan to obtain power! I can give you all the power you ever imagined!!!"  
  
Arashiko shook her head, trying to clear the influence of Yugure from her mind, "You talk too much!!" Arashiko yelled at him, yet she still hesitated.  
  
What if he's right? What if I came here just to feed my own appetite for destruction! I killed people, entire worlds, and I enjoyed it!! I indulged the feeling of power I got from destroying the weak!! I'm a monster just like he is!!!  
  
"NOOO. . . Arashiko!! You can't let him control you!!" Nail broke through the wall of black mist, shouting desperately, "You can't let him change your heart!! Please!!"  
  
Arashiko shook her head as she snapped out of the daze she had gone into. Before she could react to anything, Yugure raised his hand.  
  
"Insolent child!" Yugure spat as a slender shaft of light erupted from the tips of his fingers and slammed into Nail's chest, easily passing through his thin armor.  
  
A wrenching scream ripped from Arashiko, "NAAILL!!"  
  
Nail's eyes reached out for her, the question lurking there as his body fell to the ground.  
  
Are you going to betray me?  
  
Arashiko ran over to Nail, Yugure watching on silently amused by her futile efforts. Her hands trembled as she frantically tried to get Nail to wake up. She shook him violently, but to no avail. His eyes remained closed.  
  
"Nail!!! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!! You can't be dead!!! You can't die!! DAMMIT!!" Arashiko yelled psychotically upwards to the heavens. She lifted her hands to her face and saw the pale lavender blood of Nail soaking into her palms.  
  
Not another friend!! Not because of me!! Dammit!!!  
  
Arashiko screamed out, her rage and pain boiled out into one long scream of pure fury and sorrow.  
  
Not again!!! Not ever again!!!!  
  
Burning tears of anger and sadness streaked down her face as her raging blue eyes found the object of her pain. Yugure simply stood there watching her with a smirk on his twisted face, taking in her suffering. Arashiko clenched her fists so hard that her wrists felt like they could break. Her breathing became so quick from frustration that everything seemed to meld into one breath. No amount of physical expression could convey or lessen the loss and anger that she was feeling. Cool drops of rain fell on her hot face and upon Nail's fallen body as black clouds converged overhead. Rumbling thunder seemed to echo her anger everywhere around them, violent lightening hardened the shades of animosity upon her features. Lightening flashed, illuminating everything in a blinding white glow. For a split second, Arashiko's flailing black hair glowed gold as it trailed in the growing torrent.  
  
"You wanted to see a monster, Yugure!! You wanted to see the Evil in me!!!!" Arashiko opened her still trembling hands, showing him that she was not hiding anything and she now had nothing else to lose. . .  
  
"WELL HERE IT IS!!!" Arashiko screamed out defiantly, calling every scrap and presence of energy in her body and soul outward to focus. Her blue pupils disappeared, leaving only ominous white pupils. Chaotic lightening struck everywhere around her, setting the darkness of the battlefield ablaze with white light. The solace Yugure found in the shadows was blown away by the blazing brilliance radiating from Arashiko.  
  
Then she released it outward, all the pain and fear and evil, cleansing her own soul, hoping and praying it would be enough. The starfall of energy burst forth and enveloped Yugure's dark form. For a moment he was engulfed in it, embraced by total light, then the sparkling effulgence dissolved into the night. Clouds of ominous fog arose and obscured everything around Arashiko. She took the moment to calm herself, to keep her own anger from making her rage forever. She paced her breathes.  
  
Can't let it seep into me! The anger, the rage, the need to kill!! It's everything I don't want to be!! I can't let it!!!  
  
"It's everything you were born to be. . ." his caliginous voice penetrated her thoughts once again, "You're a killer to the core, just like us. You are my shadow, my other half."  
  
"Stay out of my head!!!!!" Arashiko screamed out into the fog. She spun around and launched energy chaotically into the floating haze. The mist lifted and revealed Yugure still standing proudly in the heart of darkness. Arashiko clenched her teeth and threw yet another fist-full of energy at him. It hit him dead on in the center of his torso. The white globe of energy writhed in the air as it contacted his chest, reacting violently, then fizzled away into nothingness. Arashiko growled in frustration and decided to take the direct approach. She launched at Yugure with a series of strong attacks. Yugure blocked them all with his hands. His form blurred psychedelically in the air, his movements faster than the mind could process. He withdrew from her forward kick and grabbed her forearm in an iron grip. His long claws dug into her skin and drew blood. Arashiko shouted and hollered as she tried to pull away from him. Just the simple contact with his hand sent a surge of dark energies into her mind, increasing his influence over her. Finally she broke away, cradling her arm.  
  
Damn!! Energy doesn't effect him!! Physical blows don't effect him!!! What the hell is he?!!? What did he do to me???  
  
Arashiko frantically searched around for something, some way to defeat Yugure. A glint of gold caught her eye. Nail's sword lay on the ground just a few feet away. She took a quick glance at Yugure and ran for the sword. She somersaulted and picked the sword up by the hilt as she dropped down. Arashiko recalled all the things Nail had taught her, the sword skill and concentration, faith in herself. She would fight this monster and free her own soul. She would do it for him, she would do it for Nail, and she would do it for herself. Body in affectation and courage set, Arashiko made her stand against the dying of the light. The gleaming sword shined triumphantly, its arm-length blade pointing towards the one of darkness. Arashiko dashed forward and began to wield the sword, Nail's gentle teachings echoing throughout her memories.  
  
Let yourself be as a reed in the wind. Bend to the breeze.  
  
The sword sliced downward through the air, singing its silent song of death. Yugure missed it by a mere hair of an inch.  
  
Free your mind. Free yourself.  
  
Only you can change your heart.  
  
The blinding blade raised once more and came down upon Yugure, slicing a path across the left side of his face. Dark violet blood flowed as did anger and adrenaline. Yugure looked up at her, his eyes made even more fiery red by fury. Arashiko sliced at him again, this time more accurately and deadly. Yugure threw up his hand, his claws showing distinctly. An invisible force hammered Arashiko in the chest. Everything froze.  
  
I. . . I can't move!!!?  
  
She strained every muscle and still wasn't able to achieve any kind of motion except for the furious beating of her heart. Beads of shining sweat ran down her face as Yugure slowly approached her. She was stuck with the sword upraised high over her head. Yugure brought his sneering face close to hers. She looked deep into his narrow eyes and saw a burning soul there. Arashiko tried to recoil from him, but she was fastened tightly to her spot. His pointed features loomed over hers than finally receded. She strained to look at him, to move, to do anything. Yugure brought his black fingers up to her eyes and ran his barbed claws across her face almost affectionately.  
  
"You should know me. We have been waiting for each other here in the darkness, Santi Uru, brought by the holy providence of the Eternal Dragon and the heart of the Storm." Yugure softly induced. Each of his words seemed to echo and sound to her as if they had been spoken by many voices. They strangely swayed her, soothingly, like the soft breath of the wind.  
  
Come, join us in the Dark.  
  
Feed your fear.  
  
Let your hatred burn.  
  
Feed your desire.  
  
Pave the Way in Flesh and Blood.  
  
Give in to your anger.  
  
Bathe in Evil and know that I am your other half.  
  
You are my shadow,  
  
We are both dusk shades cast upon the same wall.  
  
Join me in the Dark.  
  
He ran his fingertips over her fluttering blue eyes, caressing her chin. Arashiko felt herself slipping away, as if she was slowly being overtaken by sleep. Her mind was clouded, her vision blurred. She fell to her knees, nearly seized by Yugure's influence. She held herself up with Nail's sword. The cold touch of the hilt was the only thing keeping her to her own senses. It was a present reminder of all she had left to fight for.  
  
Will you fight for Nail? Can I honor him in death?  
  
Will you fight for Brana? Can I gain retribution through defeat?  
  
I must fight it!  
  
Only I can change my heart and my fate!!  
  
She ripped to her feet breaking the bonds that held her consciousness and slashed at Yugure, almost disemboweling him. He drew away from her, clutching his stomach. Yugure raised his palm toward her again, causing the same sharp needles of pain to stab into her mind. Arashiko screamed out, trying to struggle and rid herself of the horrible agony. Yugure took the moment of chaos within her to seize control of her once again. Her strong will was too much for him to control this time. He was force to use the last moments of control he possessed to exert his influence.  
  
Arashiko raised her arms in the air like a marionette controlled by a puppeteer, Nail's golden sword gripped tightly in both hands. She desperately tried to stop herself, to gain control again, but to no avail. He was controlling her body, her actions. The sword came down and stabbed into her chest, right beneath the center of her collarbone. Arashiko shrieked as the tip of the blade dug in a couple inches. Tears of pain gathered in her eyes as the blood ran down from the wound and soaked her garments. She had just enough will power to keep the blade from going deeper and piercing her heart. It took all her strength to hold off her own self. Her hands trembled as the inner conflict of control raged on and on. Exertion finally showed itself in Yugure's features as his own upraised hand began to shake. Arashiko's blue eyes glowed with rage and determination, a saffron aura of energy began to illuminate around her. She was reaching her breaking point and Yugure knew it. Finally, she could take no more. Rage and Will bent as Arashiko yelled out with all her heart and soul to all the heavens above and the hells below.  
  
"I WILL BE FREE!!!!"  
  
She ripped the sword from the bloody wound, immense energy flooding forth from every pore of her being. Thunder roared from the black clouds, lightening struck on every side , alighting everything in golden brilliance. To look upon Arashiko, the Child of the Storm, at this moment was to look at the sun, blinding and burning. Yugure feebly tried to block the incredible energies, his body hit dead on by the emersion of light. Slowly, he sank away into the darkness, realizing his defeat. His crimson eyes were the last things she saw of him as he dissolved away into the dusky shadows.  
  
Light returned to dark as the radiant energy receded back into her, its warmth and brilliance invigorating her. Arashiko sat there on her knees, breathing heavily. She had won back her own soul and maybe this time it was worth fighting for.  
  
"Y . . . You didn't give in. . .", a weak voice made her turn.  
  
"Nail!!!" Arashiko exclaimed as she quickly ran over to him, "Thank God you still draw breath!!!" She grasped the little Nameck's hand and held it tightly. He was hurt bad, burned across the chest area. Lavender blood ran from the corners of his lips. He faintly smiled at her and coughed.  
  
"You didn't give in.", Nail repeated, tears of happiness and pain clouding his eyes. He groaned and Arashiko felt his hand loosen a little.  
  
"Wait!! Stop!! There has to be something I can do!! Show me how to heal you! I have to help!!!! Show me how you saved me!!!!" Arashiko yelled into his face and squeezed his hands tightly, trying to get him to stay awake.  
  
With a grunt of effort, Nail lifted his hand and took Arashiko's trembling palm. He guided her hand slowly and laid it gently on the wound to his chest. He tried to talk, his words coming out ragged as he gasped for breath.  
  
"N. . . Now, make your mind . . . clear. Focus, feel the life-force within yourself, the warmth inside. Let them . . . flow within you and heal." Nail coughed again, this time bringing up blood. Arashiko winced and tried to do as he said. She focused as she had never focused before to save her only friend. She was not going to let another friend slip away. It started out as a small feeling of warmth than grew till her whole entire body felt boiling hot. Her hands lit with flaxen rays of sunshine as they lay on Nail's chest. Nail breathed in sharply, his wound illuminating. In a flash, the wound faded away to nothing.  
  
"I. .I did it!!? Ohh..." Arashiko grabbed her forehead for balance, she felt extremely dizzy and nauseous.  
  
So this is the price that Nail was talking about. She sat back on her knees and breathed deeply, trying not to pass out. She was completely exhausted and weak. Nail got to his feet and approached her, his eyes glistening with gratefulness and happiness. Arashiko smiled at him and held out his weapon, "Your sword, little warrior."  
  
Nail took the golden sword and sheathed it, then embraced her.  
  
Arashiko patted him on the back, "Nail, this time you saved me, in more ways than one."  
  
Nail was silent, he could think of no words to say. He could never thank her enough for what she had done. He helped her to her feet. Arashiko leaned heavily on him for support. Slowly they made their way back to the village. They walked through the fog and the death and knew that they had triumphed.  
  
Arashiko kneeled before Kiaochuru, the wise Nameck seated proudly upon his ivory throne. Nail stood by his side, smiling. One could almost taste the victory in the air. They had repelled the Kurai for now, but their leader was still alive and they would be back. They would be ready. Arashiko smiled up at Nail, her azure eyes lit with a new fervor and zeal. She had done something not for the King, but finally for herself. This was her first real taste of her own life, of freedom. And it felt good. Kaiochuru looked on at her and nodded respectfully. Lanan came forward and placed a suit of crimson armor and a guilded white sword in front of her on the cool metallic floor. It was the same sectional armor that he wore but fitted and customized to fit her particular features.  
  
"For your bravery and honor in battle, we of the Purunga offer you this as a token of our eternal thanks to you. You have saved many generations of my children." Kiaochuru's commanding voice boomed.  
  
Arashiko ran her fingers along the red cuirass. It was a mantle she was proud to wear.  
  
Nail stepped forward and placed a luminous silver mask in her hands.  
  
"With this you become one of the Dragon Clan, with this you become one with us in spirit. You become a warrior of the Eternal Dragon." Nail said as he stepped back to his place at Kaiochuru's side.  
  
Arashiko felt the molded mask in her hands and stared down into its hollow eyes. It was mouthless and had one singular smooth section covering the nose and mouth giving its wearer a fearsome aspect. Layered sections accented the eyes of the warrior who would wear it. Slowly she brought it up to her face. It fit her features perfectly, as if it was made for no one else but her. Underneath the cold mask, she smiled.  
  
"Arise, Santi Uru. You are one of my children now. May you find peace as we do."  
  
Arashiko slowly rose to her feet and peered out through the steel mask with her blue eyes. She felt as if this was her true face.  
  
Clad in the crimson armor and white mask, she gazed out over the amber horizon, feeling the invigorating new energies that surged within her. The fight with Yugure had opened another door spiritually and physically. She could feel that she was stronger. Arashiko laid a hand on the hilt of her pale sword and felt the still aching wound where Nail's golden blade had almost penetrated her heart.  
  
The Kurai were out there, scheming in the shadows.  
  
Yugure waits for me still. My sword waits for him  
  
and all of his Kindred.  
  
They will never harm any of these people again. . .  
  
. . .any of my people.  
  
The red armor gleamed in the glare of the three suns, shining like blood.  
  
I'm ready for you, Yugure.  
  
Can you hear me?  
  
Your other half is ready and waiting.  
  
* * * 


	5. Santi Uru

Child of the Storm  
  
Chapter 5: Santi Uru  
  
Once more the years passed by, one by one till almost ten years have passed since the great storm cast Arashiko into the world of Nameck. In that small amount of time she has learned much. She has formed a bond with these people, the same people she could have cared nothing about so short a time ago. Nail, who was once her teacher, had now become the student. They taught each other their own languages. Arashiko learned to speak Nameck as fluently as any one of the village. Nail, in turn, learned a decent grasp of the Saiyan language, especially the word girl. In her years there, he also taught her the Art of War, the graceful fighting techniques of Nameck. After a hundred years, they finally entered the last year of the war between the Purunga and the Kurai. Ten years did Arashiko fight against the Kurai, wielding her new skills with power and precision as a most effective weapon against their enemies. In all the years since, Yugure had not shown himself. With hard determination, Arashiko prepared to wipe the last of his kind off the face of Nameck.  
  
On the outskirts of the Purunga village, a battle raged once again. The crimson armor of the Purunga soldiers flashed brilliantly in the glare of the three suns. Lanan led them on, screaming triumph in the face of all the Dark Ones who would destroy the tranquility of their home. The Kurai foot soldiers fought ferociously, landing blow upon blow, but the Purunga fight with all their will, fending to protect what is most sacred to them. Amid the violence and the blood, it was hard for either side to notice the black clouds that had begun to streak the sky. The field became enveloped with shadow with the blinding of the sun. Death was coming on silent wings. Lanan shouted to be heard over the screams of the battle.  
  
"Pull back!!! Pull back!! Santi Uru is coming!!!"  
  
The Purunga soldiers did not hesitate. They pulled away from their opponents and gathered back to watch the wrath of the Storm. The Kurai clamored uneasily. Each one knew what was coming; it was Death in the form of the Child, Arashiko. They had no time to run or time to fight, a cyclone of thunder and lightening struck down and battered their bodies, sending the purple earth flying into the air in a beautiful pattern. Thunder roared all around them, feeding their fear. The battleground alighted with white fire as Santi Uru burst forth from the heart of the lightening, ripping through one of the Kurai with her blazing white sword. The flashing white blade passed through flesh and bone easily and with little effort. The Kurai scattered about, trying to escape their fate, but Santi Uru's blade found them wherever they ran. Soft and shining purple blood spread from their gathered wounds and splattered across the silver mask, framing her striking blue eyes with trails of dark blood.  
  
One of the shadowy creatures struck at her from behind, his blade glancing off the side of her head. To his surprise, his blow did not wound her at all. Santi Uru twirled around in the air, her hand shooting out to grasp her assailant's neck. With one strong squeeze of her fingers, she crushed his throat, leaving him trying to gasp for air. The unfortunate Kurai warrior fell back, his red eyes bulging with the final realization of death. One by one, the wretched Kurai fell, their black bodies littering the battlefield which had once been the peaceful gathering place of the Purunga village. Finally, there was only one lone warrior left. He fought desperately to save himself, backing away from her in a futile effort to escape the wrath of the Child of the Storm. In a last ditch effort, he launched at her with an energy beam hitting her directly in the face. The force of the beam threw her head to one side, but she still remained on her feet. The beam bounced of the mask, ripping it from her face.  
  
Arashiko stared down upon the last warrior with her shining blue eyes, her black hair whipping at the wind. The lightening and thunder roared around them in a tumult of cacophonous noise. The stunned warrior lay on his back, staring at her dumbfounded. He looked upon her real face with wild, scared eyes. Fear and anxiety drove him to attack her though he knew she was his death. The last Kurai warrior thrust his sword at her with all his might. Arashiko caught the blade with her forearm, it lodged harmlessly into the front guard. The sharpened sword quivered in the air for a few long moments then shattered to a thousand pieces. Splinters of the broken sword flew back into the Kurai's face. A small sliver brazed Arashiko's cheek, causing a tiny river of blood to flow down the side of her face.  
  
Arashiko loomed over him once again, the black storm wrapping her in a shroud of darkness. Like the grayed specter of death, she stood over him, waiting to claim another. She hesitated. Something echoed in her memories. Another regret, another soul she had claimed.  
  
The young Saiyan soldier still looked up at her and begged her one last time, his desperate voice pleading.  
  
"Mercy...please!!"  
  
He was so young, just barely out of his teens.  
  
Arashiko's hands trembled as she reached out to the ghost, the wraith of the young Saiyan she had killed on Cadvia. His words twisted her soul and wrenched her heart.  
  
"Please!"  
  
Arashiko shook her head, trying to make the ghost disappear. Whenever she let her guard down, the ghosts seemed to gather there in the mists of her memories. One face always seemed to stare at her among the many blurred faces. Brana's burning brown eyes were always there, staring from the blackness of her soul. Crystal tears streaked from Arashiko's blue eyes. She had to escape them or she would surely go insane. Her hands trembled violently from her impending madness. A lump of fear and anxiety caught in her stomach and her throat.  
  
Then something else appeared to her, another image, another memory that was vividly relived. The Kurai were not the only ones to die in this war. Arashiko saw new friends, the peaceful people of Purunga, with their shattered bodies spread across the battlefield. They gave their lives to defend what they held most sacred and dear. Their pale blood seeped into the earth, along with the tears of all their loved ones.  
  
That single fact drove her back to reality with a stinging rush of anger. The crushing weight of the waking world ripped her from the brink of insanity. The lone Kurai kneeled in front of her, even more scared and confused by her unpredictable actions. Was she going to kill him or not? Arashiko stared deep into his dark red eyes. The souls of all the dead Purunga shined there, crying out for retribution!! Wasting no words, Arashiko took his head with one fatal swoop of the snow-white sword. Sections of the silver blade reflected from the parts not covered by Kurai's dark blood. White light poured into her blue eyes.  
  
There is no time to regret when the ones you care about are at stake.  
  
. . .more blood.  
  
. . .more death.  
  
This is all I can do to save them.  
  
The heart of a Saiyan bends so easily. .? Death for something good.  
  
Life for something better. . .  
  
* * *  
  
Arashiko stared up into the darkening, deep jewel sky. Once more it was tinged with the black clouds of the storm of the Eternal Dragon, the storm she was born in. Golden lightening jumped from cloud to cloud and converged over the gathered Elders and the soldiers of the village. Arashiko let out a deep sigh.  
  
The last time I saw this warm, golden light, I was dying. Now I see it to say farewell.  
  
It was her first day on this world again, ten years gone by in the dust. Nail stood beside her, his face filled with hidden tears. He appeared as a child no longer. His small form had melted away from the child she had gazed upon through the tears and the rain, all those years ago. His face still held that same quality of youth, the same gentleness and wisdom she respected in him, but there was a firmness and sharpening of his features that tipped him more towards being a man. His black eyes watched the dragon forming out of the nothingness of the sky. All those years of fighting and dying, student and teacher, and she was going to leave him now?  
  
Kaiochuru stood at the center of the circle of elders, within the circle of the Dragonballs. Every year had deepened the wrinkles on his once proud form. But every wrinkle and scar was a testament to his great wisdom and knowledge. He had pleaded with her not to leave them. She was a part of them now. But Arashiko felt it, she could feel her own power. She could feel that it was time.  
  
It was time to leave and face her demons.  
  
Frieza was waiting for her.  
  
Every sane bone in her body told her to stay here with them, with the ones she cared about. But her past was haunting her, it stung at her in the night, in her dreams, and behind the joy in every waking moment. Perhaps it was the deep loyalty she once held for Vegeta? Perhaps it was some kind of honor? Revenge? Rage? Guilt? So many things called her back and ate away at her conscience.  
  
Somewhere she could feel that the Prince was alive.  
  
Vegeta was alive!  
  
She had an obligation to him, for the death of his father, her King. If anything, she owed him the same chance that she had found here, among the Nameckjin. Maybe she could change him as they had changed her.  
  
"You have summoned me from my slumber. Give unto me thy three wishes and unto you they will be granted. As it is written so it shall be done." The Eternal Dragon Purunga spoke the same words as it manifested before them.  
  
This is the gift that Kaiochuru presented to her in their parting, the three wishes of the Dragon. The chance for power was there. The chance for immortality, the chance to seize all she had strove for as a harbinger of destruction was all right there, ready for her to grasp. But Arashiko left it to fate. Kaiochuru's untold wisdom would guide her now.  
  
Arashiko kneeled before the Dragon on one knee and awaited Kaiochuru's words, her faith complete in him. She could not help but stare in awe at the magnificent creature curling about the sky. Its great presence filled her with a combination of fear and wonder. This was a being of pure power and energy, something beyond her own comprehension. Staring at Purunga, she felt some kind of kinship, some kind of bond between the Dragon and herself, though she could not put her finger on it.  
  
"The first rite, Purunga," Kaiochuru began, "Give your Child, Santi Uru, the Eternity of Youth, so that she will live in glory forever."  
  
"WHAT?!" Arashiko had time to gasp before the light of the Dragon enveloped her in a glaring sheet of radiance. Every pore in her body seemed to open up and breathe. Her skin felt boiling hot, like her innards were cooking in their own juices. When the feeling and the light finally vanished, Arashiko opened her eyes and stared up at the great Dragon, than spun around and cast Kaiochuru a questioning glare.  
  
What did you do to me??  
  
Before she could voice her question, Kaiochuru raised his hand and bade her be silent till all was finished. Arashiko bit back her frustration and listened. In the back of her mind, she knew what he was doing.  
  
He is giving me all the power I ever wanted. How can he do this? How can he know, how can I know, what I will do with such power??  
  
Once again, the fear of that black creature of evil lurking inside her soul re-emerged to torment her. Arashiko dreaded each word as Kaiochuru pronounced the second wish.  
  
"Purunga, grant this warrior the power to overcome the one she seeks. Give her the strength to save the ones she loves in return for saving those I hold so dear. This is my wish, so it shall be done!!!"  
  
Thus followed the same burning, the same igniting of the senses, except something was different this time. All the fire in her spirit was released. Blue shafts of light spiraled outward from her body in a deadly blossom as the gates of power were released within her. A rush of energy and flashes of cool thunder took the breath from her lungs.  
  
I've never felt such power!!!  
  
It was almost god-like, almost enough to drive her insane. In that single moment, she felt as if she could raise her hand into Heaven and touch the face of the Divine. Blue lightening surged outward from her body and struck brutally at the ground around her, reducing it to a battered mess. Even after the Dragon's presence had left her, she could still feel the maddening levels of power that now surged through her veins faster than any blood. Then Arashiko reminded herself.  
  
There is still one more wish!  
  
Arashiko stayed herself, the force of breathing and living finally returned to her senses. She gulped in the air and stared up into Purunga's looming face. The towering dragon seemed to smile at her with his boundless red eyes.  
  
The third and final wish echoed throughout the Circle.  
  
"Purunga, I call upon you for this final rite. Grant your Child the wisdom to overcome, to fight, to survive. Give her the knowledge to combat the evil within herself. That is my final wish."  
  
Arashiko closed her eyes and sighed as the light of the dragon caped around her for the last time.  
  
What is power without the knowledge to use it? How can Kiaochuru know if he has just given all this power to a monster?  
  
Arashiko opened her azure eyes again as the parting farewell of Purunga echoed throughout. The Dragonballs divided the black sky as they fell towards their resting places in the four corners of Nameck.  
  
We shall have to see after all is said and done. Now comes the hard part...  
  
How do I say goodbye?  
  
Kaiochuru walked over to Arashiko and placed his hands affectionately on her shoulders, "Arise, my daughter."  
  
Arashiko smiled to hear him use a word that she had taught him. She got to her feet, turned, and embraced him.  
  
"I'll win that battle for you, Kiaochuru. I'll win it and I'll stand proud with the knowledge and the life that you gave me." Arashiko squeezed him tighter. "Thank you...thank you for giving me the chance to do something good."  
  
Fare thee well, Wise Nameck. She let him go. Kaiochuru moved aside. Nail stood there with that same sorrowful look trying to hide his tears. Now came the real goodbye. Arashiko appraoched him and kneeled down before him. Nail was still a shorty, though he was growing up right before her eyes. Arashiko smiled tenderly at him and wiped away his tears with a gentle sweep of her hand.  
  
"Now don't start that. Warrior's don't cry, Nail. You have to be strong and guard your father, to take my place as Santi Uru."  
  
Nail sniffled and obeyed, "But I will miss you if you go, Arashiko, gurl."  
  
Arashiko laughed softly at his innocence. He was like a little child again. She pulled him close and gave him a mighty hug.  
  
"Little warrior, my heart will always be here. Thanks to you, I was able to change it."  
  
Nail could not help but let a few sniffles escape from him as she spoke.  
  
"You saved me." Arashiko was almost crying herself. She pulled away from him before her emotions could overcome her. She had to leave before she changed her mind. Nail still grapsed her hand tightly. When he finally let go, a small golden trinket lay in the center of her palm. It was a delicate golden charm in the shape of a dragon. Arashiko smiled at him.  
  
"I don't need this to remember you by, I will always remember you."  
  
Arashiko's fingers enclosed about the charm as she turned and walked away from him. Nail watched her silently as she walked out of his life.  
  
A single strong tear slid down his face as he watched her.  
  
Goodbye.  
  
Nail stood his ground as he watched her leave. He was strong in spirit and mind.  
  
He would become as great a warrior as his Father saw in the Future.  
  
He would take her place as their protector.  
  
Arashiko took one last breath of the humid air of Nameck and prepared to leave. She called all of her new power to test herself, to see if she could control it. Rings of shimmering blue and white stars spun around her body. The rush of energy opened up her senses to a new level. Sight, hearing, touch, taste, all were elevated far beyond anything she had ever felt before. Victory could be so much sweeter, death could be so much more painful. Sowehow she managed to control it. The gifts of the Dragon stayed true to their form. Arashiko used the quickening of energy to mark her departure. Trails of white light followed her body through the air as she raced through the sky, leaving everything behind once again.  
  
* * *  
  
Rain beat against Arashiko's face as she headed towards where her ship had been nestled in the womb of the land. The storm caused by the presence of the Dragon still lingered over the planet, turning the bright day into a dreary night. Arashiko gazed at the little dragon charm that Nail had given her, twinkles of golden light reflected into her eyes.  
  
I'll never forget you, Nail. You saved my soul. I will repay you one day, I swear! I pray that I can live up to your expectations. Please go on without me, protect our people.  
  
A brilliant flash of lightening suddenly flashed in front, blinding Arashiko for an instant. Thunder clapped as a familiar pain almost forgotten pierced into her mind once more. All at once it hit, sending her falling from the sky, streaks of power still flailing from her body as she fell like an angel from paradise. She couldn't breathe, her throat constricted as she was choked by something, or someone. Before Arashiko could free herself, the ground came up to kiss her on the face. She slammed head first into it, pushing up the purple earth with a terrifying impact. A few disorienting seconds passed before she pulled herself up and looked around frantically. Even before the incensed lightening illumintated his dark form, she knew who it was.  
  
Yugure finally showed himself after all the years.  
  
"You!!" Arashiko yelled out in surprise at seeing him again. She would not let him go this time.  
  
With another flash of lightening and clap of thunder, he was gone, just like that. Arashiko searched the horizon, squinting to see through the pummeling rain and the glare of lightening that flashed all around her. Deep laughter echoed on the blowing wind behind her. Arashiko spun around, lashing out with her fist and hitting nothing but air. The laughter continued, echoing all around her with the howling of the torrent. He was toying with her.  
  
"It's just you and I."  
  
"It's just you and I."  
  
"It's just you and I..."  
  
"You and I...the only shadows left on the wall."  
  
"Hahahah!"  
  
Arashiko screamed out and punched into the ground, sending cracks radiating from the impact, energy and light bursting outward from her.  
  
"I WILL MAKE YOU BE SILENT!!!"  
  
Silence pervaded as the dust cleared. Arashiko breathed a sigh of relief, eyes still searching around nervously. He was gone.  
  
"NO!!! We finish this now!!!!" She shouted into the stillness. She knew that he was still there, somewhere. Arashiko kept a cool hand on the hilt of her ivory sword. A bead of sweat streaked down her temple. Her breath crystallized in the air, its crisp hush the only thing that sounded as the world turned cold. Everything faded to black. Even the roar of the storm quieted. Arashiko tensed and raised the sword when she spotted a small figure standing alone in the darkness. It was turned away from her, head bowed solemnly.  
  
The child turned to her and raised her soft brown eyes, short brown hair framing their burning sadness. Her voice whispered loudly to Arashiko, filling her with fear. The ivory sword fell to the ground with a loud, metallic clang.  
  
"Kakayun...never open the door to death. Remember? I told you that all things would come to their just ends. You're coming to yours."  
  
Brana's eyes burned into her. "You're coming to yours."  
  
Arashiko slid to her knees, the darkness pressing in upon her heavily. Brana's soft voice was the only thing that echoed through the awful blackness. Arashiko tried to make it stop. She was going insane!! All the ghosts were coming back, all of them!! She clapped her shaking hands over her ears in a futile effort to stop the madness, to block out the Voice.  
  
"Arashiko, never pretend to act or be someone you never were and can never be. You killed people and you did it with a smile on your face so don\'t pretend to be a nice caring person! You think you have changed? Happiness isn\'t something you experience; it\'s something you remember. Happiness, you never had it and never will since you don\'t remember it. Your life begins to end the day you become silent about things that matter. So stop pretending...\" Brana\'s voice became so clear and loud it sounded inside of Arashiko's ears as if Brana were there whispering beside her.  
  
"You have not changed, you've only tricked yourself into believing that you have. You're heart is as black as the day you first killed!! Have you changed? Have you?! Ask yourself...you've become just another killer for another king."  
  
Arashiko clutched her ears tighter as hot tears forced their way out of her eyes. She screamed out as if stabbed, the pain of remorse evident still. She raised her eyes, vision blurred with the painful tears and saw nothing...Brana was gone. A cool wind blew, the winds of her home. She was standing in the plains of her homeworld, Vegeta. The frigid breeze sighed through her long dark hair.  
  
Is it painful to know that it was a cool, windy night when you had to kill your best friend? The Voice returned to haunt her once more.  
  
Arashiko looked around her. She was in a field that held endless patches of NightBells. The shining white bells of flowers spread to the endless horizon. There were few fields like this..most of Planet Vegeta was barren. Only the lower castes farmed the land.  
  
I'm home? The images of her world confused her thoughts. She never realized how much she missed the world of Vegeta till these images passed before her. Arashiko lay in the soft grass where she was surrounded by NightBells and looked into the stars caught in the depths of the blue sky.  
  
Arashiko shouted to the stars as if they could offer her the answers she sought, "What does Brana want to show me? Why does she haunt me day in and day out? WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME!?!!\" Arashiko\'s voice faded with the dying wind.  
  
Arashiko curled up and closed her eyes, wishing to return to this world that she knew was all a part of her tortured nightmare. The stars fell from the sky, returning her to darkness. In her mind she could hear the cries of the people who suffered and died at her hands.  
  
I have gone mad and the world has gone mad with me.  
  
Everything is dark still...  
  
Please!! Just let me go!! LET ME GO BRANA!!!! HASN'T THERE BEEN ENOUGH SUFFERING???  
  
"No...no...you don't know what suffering truly means. That is why I have brought you here...to see my suffering. So you can taste it and know what you are...  
  
.. A killer forever and eternal..."  
  
\"Wake up, Hurry," the Voice began quietly, "WWAAAKKKEE UUUPPP!!!\" The Voice seemed to be right there over Arashiko.  
  
\"WAKE UP!!!!\" It was right in front of her.  
  
Arashiko opened her eyes slowly, sluggishly...not wanting to see who was standing over her, for she knew who it was.  
  
\"Long time no see, traitor.\" Brana\'s voice seemed different, darker than she remembered, full of hatred.  
  
Arashiko shook her head slowly, unwilling to accept the realization that Brana was there.  
  
"GO AWAY!! LEAVE ME BE!!" She shouted desperately at the wraith.  
  
Brana walked over to Arashiko\'s side and stood there looking up at the field of boundless stars. The wind blew through her brown hair. Brana looked just as Arashiko remembered. Her feathery brown bangs settled over her eye. The rest of her hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail. Brana was dressed in the dark uniform of a Third Class Saiyan, the uniform that Arashiko had first met her in.  
  
\"I have only come here to show you what you have done to the many poor souls of your kind. Your own people that you sent to hell! I thought you were my friend why did you lie to me?!\"  
  
\"I am sorry Brana.......,\" Arashiko\'s voice turned empty.  
  
"You're sorry?? My old friend, you don't know what sorry is..." Brana turned her head, motioning to the side.  
  
A small girl who looked about five or six sat in a grassy field close by them. The girl stood and walked over to where Arashiko was standing but she sat there quietly watching the flowers in the field. Her tender, long brown hair danced in the wind behind her. Arashiko recognized the girl. It was Brana when she was smaller. It was her past self the way she used to be before. As the girl sat there alone she started to sing.  
  
\"Will you miss me? Will your sunny days go away? For I will miss you. I will cry if you left me here. My sunny days would turn cold, I wouldn\'t know what to do. Would you? Just remember, that I will be here for you. When you need me the most. Will you miss me......?" The voice was soft yet the song was familiar.  
  
\"Brana!!! Where are you child?!\" two more people ran between Arashiko and the wraith of Brana. The wraith stood by, watching gravely.  
  
The girl stood up and wiped the flowers off her lap as she heard her name.  
  
\"I'm right here!!! Over here Keoto and Broli!! hehehe!\" Brana\'s voice tinkled with the cheerful sweetness of youth as she yelled, waving her arms in the air.  
  
Two teenagers ran up to the innocent girl and sat down beside her. Broli was a handsome youth. He had long, dark hair and handsome dark eyes that were set in a strong, determined face. The girl, Keoto, was also dark, possessed of raven black hair and strange crimson eyes. She was a tall, slender female Saiyan.  
  
Arashiko recognized Keoto instantly. I know her from long ago! She was my brother Zorn's trainer!! She was one of the Elite, just like me!  
  
What is she doing here??? Arashiko thought, puzzled.  
  
Brana sat down by Keoto and laughed as Broli picked a long piece of grass and started to tickle Brana.  
  
\"Broli that tickles...hehehehe......,\" Brana tried to speak as she laughed.  
  
Arashiko gave a mournful sigh as she watched and wondered why Brana turned the way she was. She knew the name Broli from somewhere, it was vague, lost in a cloud of violent memories.  
  
Brana and Broli ran off together towards the house oblivious to their watchers, Arashiko and the wraith. They had been called by the frantic voice of their mother. Their father had come home with wounds of some sort. Keoto disappeared into the fields as they left. Arashiko followed Brana and Broli, she had a sense of dread that would not let her stay behind. The ghost of Brana did not follow, she vanished into the cool evening air, solemn eyes closed with sorrow.  
  
Before she reached the open door of the little house, she could hear the yelling voices. Arashiko listened intently to them.  
  
\"Brana, go to your room and stay there while me and father talk for awhile.....\" Broli looked at her kindly and pointed to the stairs as he spook to her.  
  
Brana ran to the stairs and then ducked behind the door so she could watch and no one could see her. Broli walked up to their father, Parangus, his eyes shining angrily.  
  
\"Father, King Vegeta wishes to kill us!!!! I overheard him talking to some of the Elite of our deaths! I didn\'t hear it all, only that part. They're coming!! You must believe me!!\" Broli\'s voice deepened with anger and fear as he tried to convince his father.  
  
Parangus turned away angrily and both of them walked into the other room and talked with Brana\'s mother, Kayinko. Arashiko caught snippets of their heated conversation.  
  
"I know they're coming. It's inevitable now.My stand against the king failed! I barely escaped with my life! If the guards had less care for where they throw there garbage, I would be dead now! It's your power that drives them!"  
  
Broli burst out of the other room and found Brana hiding by the stairs. Broli looked around then grabbed Brana, "Brana, listen to me. You have to stay here, under the stairs with mom okay? No matter what you hear, don't come out! Just stay here with mom." He put a gold medallion into her small fingers, "Keep this for me Brana, promise me you'll stay here." The small child nodded and went under the stairs. Kayinko took Brana by the arm and tugged at her arm, pulling her under the stairs. Broli and Parangus turned from them and towards the door.  
  
Arashiko jerked around from them as several loud knocks pounded at the door.  
  
"Parangus of the Third Class. Open the door, by order of the King you must be taken."  
  
The door flew off its hinges, an energy blast shattering it to pieces. Saiyan soldiers of the Elite stood in the dust of the beam. Their blue armor shined maliciously.  
  
\"Broli, Why do you fight the king? Come peacefully and you may see heaven faster and besides Broli we need you.....\"  
  
\"Never!!! You want to kill my family I will never help you!!! If you hurt my family I swear I will see you in hell!!\" Broli yelled as he shot forward, hammering one of the Elite guards in the stomach, sending him flying back through the door.  
  
Arashiko ran outside as the fight escalated. Strangely, Parangus watched as his son fought alone, a cold stare encompassing his features. Broli was surrounded by the Elite, they tightened in a circle about him. He backed away towards the forest, teeth clenched in anger.  
  
Suddenly, Broli's head jerked forward. He fell slowly to his knees, blood dripping from his lips. He collapsed forward and looked up before unconsciousness took him.  
  
"K..Keoto??" Broli had time to say before he passed out.  
  
Keoto stood with one foot on Broli's chest, hand still fisted from the viscous blow she had inflicted to the back of his head. Her red eyes squinted, her lips contorted in an evil smile. She turned and bowed to King Vegeta as his form emerged from the shadows of the trees.  
  
A gasp escaped Arashiko. She watched dumbfounded to find the King was there, that he had some part to play in Brana's madness.  
  
He couldn't have done this to her? He couldn't have!! It can't be true!!  
  
"My lord, the Super Saiyan is in our grasp."  
  
"Good work, Keoto." He nodded towards Keoto and turned to Parangus who stared silently at him.  
  
"Your work is done King Vegeta, you have him. Now leave the rest of my family in peace!" Parangus sternly pronounced as the King surveyed the small Third Class dwelling.  
  
"You underestimate your position in the scheme of things, Parangus. We need your son alive, but I'm afraid it is impossible to leave the rest. Frieza will become suspicious if he doesn't see the bodies of those who carry the gene that creates such power." King Vegeta motioned to the other guards and they angled their hands at Parangus.  
  
"What?! My lord, you can't do this!!!" Wait! We had a deal! My life for the boy's!" Parangus shouted as the Elite unleashed a barrage of violent energy beams into him. Parangus grasped at Vegeta's knees as he fell, begging one last time, "P..Please.."  
  
"I am sorry, but you should know better than anyone. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." King Vegeta tore his cloak from Parangus's grasping fingers. Parangus gave one last moan and his eyes closed, but the slow motion of his chest showed that he was still alive.  
  
Arashiko heard a cry behind her and quickly turned to see Brana\'s mother on her knees crying, Brana held in her arms.  
  
Brana screamed out desperately \"Broli! Daddy! No!\"  
  
Brana frantically looked around at her destroyed home. Things lay on the floor broken, crushed, and bloody. Her brother and father's blood stained the white bells of flowers that grew before their tiny dwelling. Everything was shattered, her life, shattered. Brana tore from Kayinko's hold and ran off into the fields trying to get them to follow her instead of her mother.  
  
The Elite were right behind her chasing her down like hunters chasing a fox for sport. Brana ran into the forest and used the trees to try and evade them. Arashiko ran behind her! She had to do something!! She couldn't let it end like this!! She knew what was going to happen!! Suddenly, Brana stopped running.  
  
"Give up Brana we have your mother!!! Surrender, and we might offer you deaths worthy of the Saiyan Elite rather than the low class trash that you are!!"  
  
Brana froze as she heard her mother scream in pain. The Elite saw that she had stopped and fired beams at her. Brana dodged the first beam, but another one sliced through her ankle. The child fell towards the monsters below.  
  
"NOOOOO!!! Arashiko screamed as she ran forward to catch her.  
  
I can't let it end like this!!! I can't let it happen like this!!!!  
  
She was too late. Nothing Arashiko could do would change the past. That was the lesson Brana was trying to teach her. The Elite pounced upon the child and beat her. Their fists lashed out, drawing blood and cries.  
  
Arashiko screamed out, anger finally moving her to a desperate action. She charged all the energy she could into her hands and released it outward into the group of Elite, once her former comrades. The beam roared through them, passing by harmlessly.  
  
The Voice of Brana's wraith laughed at her from nowhere.  
  
"Hahahah!! Arashiko, you cannot change the past!! Look upon this horror and know that you have inflicted it upon thousands!!! Know that you can do nothing to stop it now!!"  
  
The Elite kept up their gruesome work until Brana was beaten unconsciousness.  
  
"I wasn't powerful enough to save myself then. I was just like you, enable to do anything but watch as everything was stripped from me, my family, my life, my honor.  
  
Brana woke up covered in a dark shadow. King Vegeta stood before them, his Elite gathered about him on either side. Her mother hugged her tightly, wiping away the blood and tears from her young face. Arashiko approached the pair. She stared into the young child's eyes and brought her hand up to her face.  
  
I wish I could have changed everything.  
  
Her hand passed through Brana's tears, offering no comfort.  
  
"You two shall die to save our whole race. You should be honored to die for your King and your people!!" Keoto talked down to them haughtily.  
  
"I don\'t understand, how is killing us going to help our planet? Tell me what have you done with my brother!!!!\" Brana worked the strength up to say, her yells coming out ragged.  
  
"He's in a safe place, child." King Vegeta softly answered.  
  
Arashiko watched as Brana stood holding her fists tightly.  
  
Such strength. Arashiko admired her determination.  
  
Brana lashed out desperately at the King. Vegeta took her blows lightly. They didn't even topple him. Keoto grabbed her arm and threw her back down to the ground. Kayinko was the next to strike. Kayinko stood and shoved Brana away from her. She launched a beam of light that slammed into Keoto's chest. Kayinko jumped into a fighting stance and prepared to fight the Elite to her death. She would not die lying down.  
  
"The Saiyan Elite of King Vegeta were more than a match for my mother. They slaughtered her like so many others."  
  
\"Mommy!\" Brana\'s voice cut through the noise of the battle.  
  
Kayinko fell to her knees, beaten and bloody, she stared back to her daughter, her tearful eyes begging forgiveness that she could not protect her. Keoto walked up to her, wiping the blood from her face and the dirt from her shining blue uniform. She grabbed Kayinko and shot her through the back with an energy beam.  
  
Kayinko gave a small cry as she fell forward, the light in her eyes dimming. She looked up at Keoto and implored her one last time, "Why Keoto? Why? You damned traitor......see you in Hell Keot....\" Death stopped her from finishing her sentence.  
  
Arashiko fell to her knees, overwhelmed by the fact that she could do nothing but watch.  
  
Brana pressed her face to the ground crying. Arashiko watched as rage overcame the young girl. Her chestnut hair glowed brilliant gold in the darkening night. Brana gave a cry of pain and defeat. Arashiko shielded her eyes as everything was surrounded in golden light. When it finally faded, all of the Elite except for King Vegeta and Keoto, who had been covered by him, lay dead. They had been destroyed by Brana's fearsome outburst of power.  
  
A look of pure awe and astonishment crossed Vegeta's face, "Incredible!! How can a child so young have such power!!! HAHAH!!" He laughed insanely at the irony, "No wonder Frieza fears Parangus's family so! They carry the gene of legend!!"  
  
Brana fell to the ground breathing heavily then passed out.  
  
The same look of amazement overcame Arashiko, "Impossible!! Brana was a Super Saiyan? It can't be!! Only the Royal Family of Vegeta possess that rite!!!"  
  
Brana\'s voice echoed in Arashiko\'s mind "I am a Super Sayian....But I was one of those poor souls who didn\'t understand the power I was given. And so I wasn\'t able to use it, it left me weak. I never knew how to become a Super Saiyan. I only became a Super Saiyan twice out of my whole life.......I didn\'t even know about it because I was too mad to control it...."  
  
As the child lost consciousness, the world shattered to darkness once more. All that could be heard was a child's quiet weeping and Arashiko's fated heartbeat.  
  
\"You did it, you never changed at all......you are the same damned traitor you always were ......stop fooling yourself Arashiko....." The Voice echoed in her mind.  
  
\"Brana .....I wish there was some way I could keep you from changing like that.....If only I could...\" Arashiko\'s voice was loud but no one heard it.  
  
"I trusted you.......I would have given up my life for your King........Why must I go through hell? Arashiko..... Why.....Why??" Brana's voice assaulted her from every side.  
  
\"Damn it!!!! Brana!!!! Why are you doing this to me?! Stop the pain, please! I am so sorry Brana.......Forgive me.........Please? I know not what I have done....,\" Arashiko\'s voice faded and died like the wind.  
  
"Why should I give you mercy? You gave no one mercy!!! What goes around comes around Arashiko. Did you give me mercy when you killed me you murdering traitor!!!" Brana\'s voice echoed loudly in Arashiko\'s tired mind.  
  
"You were the same throughout your life... you were merciless, you were blood thirsty.....you weren\'t happy if there was no blood shed. Your pride and joy was being in the state of battle......you were a Saiyan, but you were a monster.......,\" Brana\'s voice was relentless. She beat and battered Arashiko coldly with an incessant barrage of words.  
  
Liar!!  
  
Traitor!! Murderer!!  
  
Killer!!  
  
MONSTER!!  
  
Every word seeped down into her like the unforgiving coldness of the dark. Every syllable made her bleed as if stabbed  
  
MURDERER!!  
  
Finally, Arashiko could take it no more, she screamed out so horrendously it seemed as if she would die then and there. The soul wrenching scream tore from the deepest, darkest bowels within her. Tears of agony fell down her face.  
  
"Just let me die!! Let me die to take away your pain! Give it allt o ome! Just let me die! For you!" Arashiko collapsed to the ground, beating the void of darkness with her fists, blood crying from her eyes. She crumpled up into a ball, will finally broken. She whispered to herself.  
  
"Just let me die...I deserve it. I'm sorry...I'm sorry....sorry." She repeated the phrase endlessly till all her strength was gone and her face was covered with the blood of her own guilt.  
  
For once, the Voice of Brana was silent. The wraith of Brana stood over Arashiko's broken body and looked upon her silently. She bowed her head in soundless affirmation. She had no answer for this.  
  
Brana became a part of the black nothingness once more.  
  
Arashiko's silent crying echoed into the endless void. Forever and eternal. . .  
  
"Lift up thine eyes."  
  
A new voice penetrated the darkness. It sounded deeply and eternally throughout the nothingness. It resonated clearly through all who heard it. The voice was reminiscent of the Dragon's, Purunga.  
  
Arashiko slowly raised her eyes to him. She never expected to see him here, not in this emptiness and sorrow. Not as a spirit. Never in her darkest moment.  
  
It was Zorn. He stood over her, his cloak of crimson shrouding and protecting her like the wings of a guardian angel. Zorn's gentle black eyes looked upon her with compassion and sorrow. His jet black hair floated divinely about his pale face. Arashiko averted her eyes from him.  
  
"How can you bare to look at me? I've failed you. . ." Arashiko's voice cracked with emotion and fatigue. "He's dead...I couldn't save him, I couldn't save you, I couldn't even save myself...Just let me die. . ."  
  
"Your suffering is not in vain, my sister." Zorn knelt down close to her, bringing his hands up to her face. He firmly held her chin in his strong palms and lifted her blue eyes towards him, "Death is never the answer." He wiped away the blood and the tears that stained her pallid cheeks crimson. Zorn grasped her wrists and pulled her to her feet. His dark blue eyes glimmered ethereally as his blood red cloak flailed out around them.  
  
"You are a Saiyan. Death is your redemption of life. I stood with Vegeta when he fell. He died defending his people. I died by his side. The Royal Emblem was crushed under the foot of Frieza, but the Prince lives. My faith is complete in you, Arashiko, do not let this injustice take place. Never allow the deaths of so many to be in vain. Find your faith in yourself so that you may go in Grace. See now with eyes unclouded by hate and anger, fear and agony. Fight to avenge us, in all our fallen glory, you are the only one who can."  
  
"Stand tall and shake the Heavens. . .  
  
stand tall, my sister. . .  
  
and awaken, for even shadows must be true to their shade."  
  
As he spoke, he faded away from her. Arashiko's eyes glistened with tears of profound happiness, her heart split to see her brother leave. She wished with all her aching soul that he would stay, that she could be at peace as he was in Death. But she had to fight, all her life, she had to fight. At least now it would be for her reason, a just reason. She sought naught but honor as the stars seek their places in Heaven.  
  
I fight for you, brother. I'm the only one who can.  
  
Arashiko burst awake with a crack of thunder. Her senses rushed back to her overwhelmingly as the night sky alighted with the clap and tumult of the storm. Her throat and face burned with blistering pain. Deep cuts and blood streaked her cheeks. Arashiko lifted her hand up to her neck and felt four grooves left there by long, sharp claws. She raised her fingers up and saw them covered by her own red blood. Arashiko quickly jumped to her feet as a sword's blade punched into the rock where her head would have been.  
  
"Impossible!!!" Yugure shouted insanely at her, his sanguine eyes burning, "You were mine!!!"  
  
Arashiko faltered painfully. Everything hurt, making her confused senses rail. The old wound where Nail's golden sword had stabbed into her was bleeding profusely. She glared at Yugure defiantly, blue eyes blazing.  
  
Yugure's fangs gleamed against the blackness as his deep, maddening roar filled her ears. The storm screamed with him as his anger poured out into the night. Arashiko returned his yell with her own wailing battlecry. She raised her blood-covered hands wildly, blue stars gathering at her fingertips. Yellow rays of effulgence spun around her body, spiraling fast with her heartbeat. The lightening joined the fray as it struck all around her, almost as if summoned by her command. The blood gleamed on her face, marking it like warpaint.  
  
For you, brother!!!!  
  
Arashiko launched forward at him, putting all her power into one, all- encompassing beam of pure white energy. It enveloped everything in blinding light. Yugure melted away again into his shadows. Arashiko knew he was not gone and looked to the shadowfalls behind her. She sensed him all around her in the darkness. Arashiko spun around, trying to see where the creature had gone. The blue glint of her sword caught her eye as lightening struck, reflecting on everything. Arashiko scooped up the white sword and angled it skillfully. Her eyes shifted hastily about, probing the darkness for his form. Another spear of lightening struck into the earth, sharpening and revealing the shadows of the land. With all her might, Arashiko threw the sword. It sang through the air and thunked into the side of a rock formation that was awash in a black shadow. Thunder crashed loudly around them as the skies shrieked. Silence fell, fragile and trembling. Arashiko watched the sword attentively. A hiss sounded as the white sword began to slide forward, a black figure impaled upon it slowly parted itself from the shadows of the rocks. Yugure grimaced at her evilly, fangs beared. He fell forward, the sword driving through his torso as he hit the ground.  
  
"Damn y . .you." he growled as the life ebbed away from him. "You are not the one I seek, she . . .she is the other half of Kaiochuru. She is . . .not you?!"  
  
Arashiko watched silently, puzzled by his dying words. Yugure cringed upon the ground and was finally still. The storm had finally quieted and shafts of sunshine peeked through the clouds, illuminating Yugure's body. There were no shadows for him to hide in now. A sunbeam shined down on Arashiko, lighting up her features with sparkling beauty. Arashiko walked up to Yugure's corpse and tore her blade from him. She breathed in the air triumphantly, sable hair blowing out with the last winds of the storm. She looked down on Yugure, her whole being shining with her triumph.  
  
"Even shadows must be true to their shade." she said to his deaf ears.  
  
The words of her brother lifted her spirits high. Now she was truly ready to leave Nameck and walk her own path.  
  
Destiny would have it be so.  
  
* * * 


	6. Dead worlds

Child of the Storm  
  
Chapter 6: Dead Worlds  
  
Final destination--Planet Vegeta 013405--  
  
Arashiko tapped the familiar coordinates into her ship's navigator. It seemed like an eternity since she had tapped them in, an eternity since she had seen her desolate home. But it was home none the less. She only hoped that Frieza had not killed many in his vengeance against King Vegeta's betrayal. Arashiko could not help but smile. In a matter of hours she would be home, she would find the Prince and keep the spirit of hope alive. They would stand together and fight Frieza to the death. They would free their people of the tyrant who had tormented them all of their lives. Arashiko kept these happy thoughts burning in her heart as the stars streaked by. Within mere hours she would be upon the soil of her own Planet Vegeta.  
  
Finally, the red lights flashed on the panels, indicating that she had arrived. Arashiko peered out of the viewport eagerly. She expected within any second now to see the red atmosphere of her homeworld swirling with feathery white clouds and patches of brown green land peeking through to greet her return. Minutes passed. She saw nothing. Arashiko's brow creased with frustration as she checked the computer.  
  
Maybe my ship's computer was damaged in the crash? It must be inaccurate.  
  
A loud bang made the whole ship shake with the impact.  
  
"Dammit!!" Arashiko cursed loudly as she checked to make sure nothing had been broken by the asteroid that hit the hull. She had flown into some kind of asteroid field. Frustrated, she piloted the ship manually to a small blue-green moon that she sighted on the very edge of the viewport. It was so far away it seemed like a blue star on the horizon. She would ask there where the hell she was. She suspected that her computer was on the fritz from the integration of the more primitive Nameckian technology.  
  
The ship landed harshly on the edge of an ocean of green water, leaving a deep crater. Arashiko wandered around for hours until she finally found an inhabitant. It was in a lonely field of strange black flowers lost in a sea of unusual blue grass. The alien she found was leaning up against a tree, he did not even flinch when he saw her.  
  
"We've already paid Frieza's men, Ginyu. Can't you just leave us in peace?" he said sternly, his crown of horns twisting with the anger apparent on his long, snouted face.  
  
Arashiko recognized the language. It was a dialect of Chershirian. In her training as an Elite, she had learned a multitude of languages in order to be able to communicate with the various races that the Saiyan monarchy dealt with.  
  
"I'm not one of Frieza's men." Arashiko's voice distorted with a thick accent. She had spoken Nameck so long that it had begun to wear down on her natural speaking voice. "Please, can you tell me what sector we're in?"  
  
The oblong alien shrugged and squinted at her, still untrusting of her motives. "We're in sector 7, the Salaido sector."  
  
Arashiko stared at him confused. I'm in the right system. How the hell did I get lost when I'm in the right sector?  
  
"Have you heard of the Planet Vegeta?" she inquired further.  
  
"Vegeta? Who hasn't heard of the Saiyan homeworld?" the alien spat with disgust, "Hah, I'm glad they're gone."  
  
Arashiko's face bent with frustration and a little anger, "What do you mean? What do you mean gone?"  
  
"Boy, you really must have been in a hole somewhere." he snorted, "Frieza wiped their disgusting kind from the universe. There are only three of them left now. The stupid monkeys didn't even know that it was Frieza who destroyed their planet, but it's plain to any fool with eyes to see. Huh? What's wrong with you?" The alien stopped as he saw the frozen look on her face.  
  
Arashiko's heart stopped. She couldn't breathe. Everything froze in its place when her universe collapsed. She didn't hear anything else that the alien said to her. Her heart shattered to pieces in her chest. The blood stopped flowing in her veins. The ice blue of her eyes turned gray and sorrowful. That moment in time seem to last forever, stagnating her soul to a deeper emptiness than she had ever known. At last, her own scream broke the silence of the long moment. She didn't even realize it was coming from her, it just erupted out of deep within herself as the pure, intense anger overflowed. There was no thought or sound or action. She didn't hear herself yelling or see the flash of energy that burst forth from her body. The alien cowered back from her, trying to escape the magnificent streams of power that surrounded her and turned the sky black. He was not quick enough. The energy swallowed him up in its radiance.  
  
The land dissolved under her feet. The fragile black flowers and delicate blue grass were blown awry by the violent typhoon. Clouds gathered overhead in the darkening sky. The torrent began. Arashiko did not know if she still screamed and wailed, or that the tears of hot anger and agony burned down her face. Her mind disconnected with her actions. All was crushed in her deadly wake of pure destructive anger. Her body permeated with golden brilliance, weaving yellow like sunshine. Finally she was able to come back to reality, unfreeze the moment in time. But that only made her angrier, for she could finally feel the realization of all that had happened.  
  
I've come back to this???? Everything is gone!! Everyone is gone!!!  
  
They're dad?!! They're dead...  
  
She screamed again, a roar of deeper anger and sorrow ripping from her as the winds violently rushed. All the sacrifices!! All the pain and the suffering!! Everything!! And they're gone!!!!  
  
AND IT'S ALL FRIEZA'S DOING!!! I should have killed him when I had the chance!! WHY COULDN'T I KILL HIM?!?!?!? WHYYYYYYYY!!!?!?! AAARRH!!!!!!!  
  
Everything turned black as she threw her fists down to the ground, cracking the earth even deeper as she beat it incessantly trying to siphon her rage. In the swirling winds, her hair began to glow gold, the air itself becoming saturated with pure energy. Her power elevated as her anger reached new, profound heights. The sparkling gold of her hair fluttered out into the gale. Arashiko looked down at her hands, feeling the power as it rose within her. She gasped at the realization, at the golden wave of hair that whipped around her face. She had become something else, something only foretold in the legends of her world.  
  
She had become the Saiyan of Legend!! A Super Saiyan!!!  
  
But only the Royal House possesses this right? How can this be true?? Brana was a Super Saiyan too!? I don't understand!!!  
  
She fell to her knees, breathing heavily, body hot, fury finally subsiding. The winds died away, the golden light fading from her. Her hair returned to its normal blue-black shade.  
  
"I don't understand," she whispered weakly to herself, "I don't understand. . ." She couldn't see how the universe could allow such a tragedy to happen, how all the Heavens could conspire to make her life a living Hell. Even the brightest light casts the deepest, darkest shadow.  
  
Arashiko sat alone in the ruin of another planet she had destroyed. The black petals of the delicate, destroyed flowers floated down in the air around her, showering her with their sorrowful softness. The gray mists drifted around her like the wraiths of the dead and dropped tears of dew on her cheeks.  
  
She was one of the few left, the only daughter of the planet Vegeta. Her whole race was lost now. It was up to her to restore it. . .  
  
For the Glory and Honor of a dead Vegeta and a dead people.  
  
* * *  
  
The next few years were spent in searching and mourning. Arashiko desperately sought to find the identities of the three Saiyans who had survived the ruination of their world. Arashiko knew that one of them was the Prince. She had long since felt deep in her heart that he was alive, she knew it long before she heard of his destructive path left throughout the galaxy. It maddened her exceedingly to know that he still lived under the oppression of Frieza. The last remaining Saiyans still worked for him!!!! The thought sickened and enraged her beyond all things. She had to find Vegeta and release him from Frieza's bondage. Arashiko thought that the Prince had no doubt been deceived about the destruction of their planet surely caused by the demonic Frieza. She had to free him from his grasp!!! All her fighting and struggling lead her forward, full-circle to one of Frieza's bases, Moon 24, the same base where she had been a part of the Ginyu, the same place where she killed Brana. Returning to that stark and barren world full of its painful, tormenting memories made Arashiko think of the demented irony of the universe.  
  
Arashiko wrapped herself in a thick crimson cloak that she had acquired in her extensive travels. It concealed all of her somewhat distinct Saiyan features, namely her tail, which she wrapped tightly around her waist in the folds of her clothes. A trail of information had led her here again. She heard that the Prince had been here recently on return from a mission for Frieza. As wide and as vast as the universe is, she was finally close in her search for the Prince. She knew not much more than that and sought to find information somewhere on this lonely, gruesome world. The scarlet cloak enclosed all her features in shadow, all except for her blazing azure eyes that shined like fiery ice. Arashiko had no worries about being recognized, after all, who would recognize her? She was nothing but a lost member of a dead race now, a lonesome ghost walking the trodden paths of the past. She was supposed to have been dead long ago. People now would think that she was just another wayward nomad in the endless sea of travelers that traversed the universe. She left the same familiar docking area of the base without being noticed by anyone. As she left, she cast one final glance back into the still unchanged place where her fateful fight with Brana had taken place. For a split second, she could have sworn to see her lying there still in the pool of her own dark blood, but a second later the apparition faded and she left the room, mind focusing forward on the present and the future.  
  
Much had changed since she had served at the Ginyu base. The Arquisian royal symbol which had been emblazoned upon much of the base's walls was now replaced by the white V of the Ginyu. Much of their royal influence was gone. Arashiko did not even see any Arquisians around like there would normally have been before. It was odd and it set her mind to questioning. All their technology was there, the guards still used their trademark weapons and scouters, but they were not there. Arashiko wondered the hallways unnoticed by anyone. People seemed to pass by her as if she was invisible, just as she had expected. She left the base. There was nothing there now but bad memories and regrets to plague her. Outside of the base was the city that had sprung up to accomodate Frieza's soldiers. It was a seedy city, never too full of criminals and vagabonds. The violet flag of Frieza with his white circular symbol imprinted on it caught her eye as it fluttered atop one of the decrepit buildings. Arashiko averted her eyes angrily from it.  
  
His flag will fly no more once I find the Prince.  
  
Finally, the twisted and damp alleyways led her to a tiny little bar tucked within the bowels of the city. Arashiko remembered it, she and Brana used to crash there after fighting in the training room. If she could find any information on the surviving Saiyans, it would be from the mangy lot who drank their days away at the bar. Arashiko entered through the little door and into the dark room lit only by the soft crimson light of two energy orbs that floated at the ceiling. She gazed around non-chalantly. Most of the packed people in there were low-ranking Ginyu soldiers. The rest were just bums. Aliens of all kinds congregated at the bar, filling it with the noise of countless languages and the pungent odor of many alien bodies. She walked up to the bar, unnoticed and unrecognized by anyone.  
  
"Bartender, one Rising Sun, heavy on the Red, none of that weak shit you guys normally used to serve around here." Her speaking voice, and her manners, were finally returning to normal after living so long with the Namecks.  
  
The bartender winked at her with his one good eye and passed her the drink without a word. Arashiko flipped him a coin and took a deep draught. It had been a very long time since she had tasted good, hard liquor. They still have the best Rising Suns out there. Arashiko flicked two more coins at the bartender, "Maybe you can help me out. You've heard of the Saiyans right? I need to know where they are. You think you can help me?"  
  
The bartender nodded but before he could answer, a loud, gruff voice cut him off from across the room.  
  
"Dammit! Get over here and get me a drink!! You have the gall to make a princess of Arquisia wait!!!"  
  
Arashiko jumped up from her seat, jerking around as she heard the familiar cruel voice.  
  
It couldn't be!!  
  
Yet there she was plain as day. The years had grayed her brick red hair to a dusty brown and her green skin to a pale verdant. A black eye patch covered her right eye where Arashiko had injured her so many years ago. Her remaining, sleek red eye still held its guileful glare.  
  
Arashiko clenched her fists angrily.  
  
It was Kaioden!!  
  
Anger and adrenaline welled up inside of Arashiko saturating her blood with seething power. Yellow light boiled along her cloaked form. All of the aliens in the room backed away from her and cleared her path to Kaioden. Before Kaioden realized what was going on, Arashiko slammed her head against the bar, sending cracks along the black tabletop. Her hand clamped around Kaioden's neck like a vice.  
  
"What the hell?? Who are you???" Kaioden managed to yell out in gurgled gasps.  
  
Arashiko's blue eyes blazed furiously, "You don't remember me? You should!! I never forgot what you taught me about blood and hate!!!" Arashiko threw back the crimson hood on her cloak. "Do you remember me now you murdering bitch!!!"  
  
A spark of surprise and fear lit up in Kaioden's remaining red eye, "You!? But you're dead!!" She choked as Arashiko squeezed her hand ever tighter. Arashiko's cold blue eyes squinted at her as she spoke.  
  
"You made sure of that, didn't you?" Arashiko jerked her arm up and threw Kaioden into the wall with a pounding crash. Her flying body crushed glass and sent cracks radiating forth from her point impact. The cold shadows of the room illuminated with the soft ivory light that danced along Arashiko's body. The crimson orbs of energy which illuminated the room popped from the surge of invisible energy that permeated the air. The energy that bounced off of Arashiko was the only thing that lit the room up with radiance. The other aliens in the room sensed a fight immediately and cleared out quick, leaving Arashiko and Kaioden alone.  
  
Kaioden's long red hair draped over her face preventing Arashiko from seeing her expression. Arashiko lifted her arm up, preparing to deliver the final deathblow, but something stopped her.  
  
Laughter. Cackling, chaotic laughter echoed everywhere, filling Arashiko's ears with its madness. Kaioden's bent face was revealed to her as she sat there, laughing insanely. Finally, she quieted, the most twisted and insane smile plastered upon her sharp features.  
  
"Oh, Kakayun, have you learned nothing? HAhahah...you can't kill me! What would you do about your little Prince? Frieza still has him licking his boots. . . AHAHAHA!!!!"  
  
Arashiko's fist lashed out, smashing into Kaioden's jaw with a dull crack. "You know where he is don't you?!" she screamed at the Arquisian angrily.  
  
Kaioden coughed once, blue Arquisian blood dripping down from her lips. She then turned her wild gaze back to Arashiko, her red eye blazing. Why doesn't she fight back? Arashiko thought, confused by her irrational actions.  
  
"Why don't you do the universe a favor and kill us both, Kakayun, or can I say Arashiko of the Elite?" Kaioden saluted her drunkenly, "Do you see my brother around here anywhere? He and I had our own stand against Frieza. So did our father, the Emperor. HAHAHA....they're both rotting in Hell right about now..AHAHAHAH" Kaioden erupted into deranged laughter once more. Arashiko stepped back away from her, brooding intently.  
  
"Think about it, Kakayun, the logic! Just let them all die. Let them all burn!! Let the world burn!!! I'm just like you now, the last outcast of a fallen, pitiful race!!"  
  
"I'm nothing like you!!" Arashiko's hate-filled voice grated.  
  
"Oh, right. There lies the irony of the universe. There it is, burning along with everything else." Kaioden laughed again as she hung her head low.  
  
Arashiko sat there and stared at the fallen princess of Arquisia, a pathetic warrior lost in a haze of liquor and defeat.  
  
Kaioden spoke lowly, the snickering completely gone from her voice, "Vegeta, you'll find him on Deliis. That's the last I heard of him. And Nappa too, that stupid bastard."  
  
Arashiko flinched with surprise. Nappa? He's one of the survivors??? Of all the honorable Saiyans to be saved from destruction, the lowest of us all is saved!!!?? She had known Nappa. He was a commander of the planet-killer forces, a big, bulging brute who thought of nothing but wanton destruction and battle. The thought angered her even further.  
  
She gave Kaioden one last glare of fury and then turned and walked away from her. She would be left to her own ruin.  
  
"Wait!!" Kaioden called out behind her. She grabbed the trail of Arashiko's blood red cloak. "Don't let it end like this."  
  
With a look of total disgust, Arashiko jerked the cloak from her hands and turned away from her towards the exit. "Killing you would be an insult to everyone I have ever loved." In her mind, Arashiko thought of the compassion Nail had taught her, of the pity he had given her, she who had once been a killer.  
  
"Don't let it end like this. Can't let it end like this...not like this..." Kaioden continued on, talking quietly to herself as she sat in the broken glass and the burden of her own defeat.  
  
Arashiko gave one last glance back at the tiny little bar where the past was buried, then turned around and walked away, Vegeta was close and she would find him. The motley lot of aliens watched the strange woman leave. About a half hour later, once sure that the fearful warrior was gone, they inched back towards the bar. They all stopped to gape at the the female Arquisian that lay in a puddle of liquor that had leaked from broken bottles. She mumbled incessantly to herself, her one red eye shifting back and forth. The aliens shook their head in dismay and returned to the sludge that was their life.  
  
The last princess of Arquisia fell under the strain of her own pride and dignity. She stared forward at the empty doorway, contemplating the end.  
  
"It can't end like this."she mumbled once more before closing her eyes.  
  
* * * 


	7. Shattered Legacy

Child of the Storm  
  
Chapter 7: Shattered Legacy  
  
"That is what led me to you. I followed your destructive path throughout the galaxy. It led me here to this world. Prince Vegeta, you are Prince no more. Now you must be a king, though only few of us remain. We must keep our legacy alive and make it better than it was before. I offer you the chance to surpass your father and become truly great with an empire not built on the sanctified flesh and blood of entire worlds."  
  
"Please, you have seen my life. . .  
  
Offer something to make up for all the pain."  
  
Vegeta's hands fell from her forehead as he jerked awake from Arashiko's memories. He stared at her silently, totally in awe and speechless. His dark eyes finally accepted the truth. He suddenly grasped her hand and touched it to his forehead.  
  
"You are not the only one who has suffered."  
  
Arashiko closed her eyes and concentrated, doing as her King wished.  
  
"See my pain."  
  
A jumble of images flashed in her mind, much more quickly and chaotic than the vivid memories she had shown Vegeta. It was almost as if he was trying to hide some memories or push them away. Then she saw it there in his mind.  
  
He had faced Frieza in battle, and been defeated, alone and the last of his kind to make a stand against the tyrant. He had died at his hands, still laughing in the face of the monster who struck fear in the hearts of the universe. In his mind, she saw the violet fields of Nameck and the seven gleaming Dragonballs. It was at the mercy of their power that he too had been resurrected by the Eternal Dragon. That was the place they had fought. In Frieza's outburst of battle, the whole planet had been destroyed! Few of the Namecks survived. They had escaped to earth and used the Dragon to create a new world to live. One image seemed to repeat itself over and over, the image of a man, standing strong in a cloud of blinding energy, his golden hair indicating that he was a Super Saiyan. He had a strong build, an innocent face that belied the anger that rippled across it, his hair trailing gold. It was another Saiyan? Kakkarot. The name bounced around incessantly, as did the strong feelings of anger and hate that the image was associated with. The feeling soon died off to a sense of mutual respect.  
  
The next thing to be revealed to her was the reflection of the lavender haired youth that Arashiko had seen earlier, the one who was supposedly his son. It was Trunks, but he looked different than the young man that now stared at them in awe as Arashiko experienced Vegeta's memories. He was older, the blue of his eyes hinted of deep pain and a sorrow so profound. His right hand held a gleaming silver sword against the dark clothes he wore.  
  
Mirai no Trunks.  
  
The Future.  
  
The next few scenes flashed by, jumbled and confused. The first was the older Trunks, lying dead on the battlefield, a strange dark figure standing over them, Vegeta and the other warriors sent to face the evil of the ultimate.  
  
Cell.  
  
Majin Buu, Kaioshin. . . the names rebounded in her mind.  
  
Dubura, Kami, Piccolo, Roshi, Tienshinhan, Yamucha, Goku. . .Goku, Goku.  
  
Bulma.  
  
A woman smiled lovingly at him, her light blue hair falling around her face. Bulma. She was Trunks's mother? The woman still smiled and kissed Vegeta gently.  
  
The tranquil vision faded and was replaced by another flash of memory. Dark hair and yellow energy flooded from a screaming figure.  
  
"The First of the Legendary Saiyan."  
  
Arashiko knew his face, it had grown older, away from the soft edges of youth. Broli! The Prince fought him??? He survived??? Brana's brother is alive?!  
  
The man who was constantly in Vegeta's memory showed up again. "He, Kakkarot, killed Broli in a massive show of power. Broli was not as he was, his mind had been corrupted by madness. Another one of us gone to oblivion."  
  
The blue-haired woman appeared again, she and Vegeta embraced tightly, passionately. All alone in their own world, they were both alone. .alone... Could she love him?  
  
"Loneliness is my ally. . ."  
  
The pair shattered to pieces as the world rushed back in a funnel of colors and blaring images. Arashiko pulled her hand away from Vegeta forcefully. His mind was too dark, violent, and awesome all at the same time. There was something dangerous there that she was afraid of, the same viciousness as his father. That was why she was here, to make him see past their heritage. Vegeta's dark brown eyes bore a hole into her, making her feel uncomfortable. She came all this way, what was she to do now? Everything just seemed to stop. All the years she sat alone wondering the universe, planning and imagining what she would say to him, and when she finally finds him, all she could do is stare at him. The heavy silence was deafening. Arashiko's blue eyes shifted nervously. At last, she bowed deeply to him and exited the confining dwelling. She would give him time to think. Trunks gazed after her perplexed. He ran up to his father's side, "Who was she, father?" Vegeta also followed the warrior with his eyes as she walked away from them.  
  
"An old friend." The solemn answer came.  
  
"Friend?" He asked again, confused. Vegeta turned away from him, holding the splintered blue amulet tightly in his hand. His own ghosts started to gather. So much of the agonizing past had been brought back to bare so suddenly.  
  
"She was an Elite. She worked for my father, a long time ago. It was another life..."  
  
* * *  
  
Arashiko sat vigil outside of the King's dome shaped house. It was nearly nightfall now, and the stars were beginning to peek out from their hiding places in the dark blue sky. For the past few hours she had been meditating. It was a skill Nail had taught her. It helped her to reach a clarity and calmness of thought that would allow her to think straight. She had to keep herself resigned. Now the move was Vegeta's. It was his choice if she should stay or go. Movement finally punctured through the silence when the door of the unusual white house opened and closed shut. One long moment later, Vegeta sat down quietly beside her. He kept his face and eyes averted from Arashiko, his hand held out to her. The dangling azure porcelain chain of the Royal House's pendant evident between his fingers as it clinked in the darkening air.  
  
"I can't accept this." His words seemed to echo forever.  
  
Arashiko's mind froze. She could not comprehend what he had just said. Her brow creased in frustration and bewilderment. She glared at him questioningly, completely incapable of asking him why.  
  
"You know as well as I why I cannot accept my father's amulet."  
  
"Why?" The trembling word finally came to her lips.  
  
"You would have me be King of a dead people?? There is no one left!!" His voice was harsh and loud. "Things are not the way as they were before! The House of Vegeta is dead and gone! Our world is gone, Arashiko. We can never bring it back!"  
  
Dead silence was her only reply. Arashiko's face became red with anger and sorrow. Scorching tears gathered in her icy eyes.  
  
"You shame yourself!!" She finally burst out, her voice filled with emotion. She had suffered too much and waited too long to be rejected this way. "You were born to this rite! It is your duty to be King! You disgrace the lives of every single Saiyan who has died! You are not serving for yourself!! You are King to redeem the memories and the deeds of all of us!! You're the last hope to save our people's souls!! Honor them!! They call out for you because it is your destiny! Honor them or be forever shamed!!! Every day of my life I have watched over you, bled for you, prayed for you so you may become a better king than your father. Please do not make everything I have fought for with my blood and soul in vain!!" She grasped his hand which held the talisman and squeezed it tightly. She stood up and embraced him strongly.  
  
She was crying now, as embarrassing as crying was, "Our people may be gone...but I can bring them back . . . I have to. . ." The rest was lost in endless quiet sobs. Vegeta stood stunned again. She was right. He knew it in his heart. Not knowing what else to do, he lifted his arms up to her and held her shaking form. He closed his eyes and offered the best comfort he could to one of his people.  
  
"Vegeeeetaa!" a woman's voice broke the silence of the emotionally charged moment, "Honey I'm hoome." A blue-haired woman came strolling across the yard with a bag of groceries supported by both hands and the tip of her chin. "Helloo, are you beating our son again? You guys and your training." Bulma yelled across the yard as she searched for where Vegeta and her son were. She finally spotted him across the yard. . .with another woman held in his arms?!? The bag of groceries fell to the ground, spilling out its various contents. Bulma marched across the yard towards Arashiko and Vegeta, one thing burning in her mind.  
  
"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM MY MAN!!" Bulma screamed as she rushed headlong at them and hammered Arashiko in the face with a slap. The smack itself wasn't enough to topple her, just the surprise that someone had hit her. Arashiko faltered backwards a few steps, confused by what had just happened. Vegeta realized what was going on and tried to persuade Bulma it was all a misunderstanding, but his words bounced off of her.  
  
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned! Bulma continued her onslaught. Through the barrage of the woman's flailing fists, Arashiko desperately tried to get her to calm down and stop. "Wait! You don't understand!!!" It took all her restraint not to lose it and just blow the stubborn woman into oblivion. Arashiko was infinitely more powerful than this frail creature! She kept her cool, blocking efficiently as she was trained to do.  
  
"YOU BITCH!!" Bulma shouted insanely as she landed a full-fisted blow into Arashiko's midsection, and this time, it hurt! Arashiko sensed a sudden increase in her power right before she delivered the punch. It was enough to send Arashiko back a few steps and make a crack in her abdomen's plated armor. Arashiko snapped.  
  
There is no way I'm letting this frail human get the best of a Saiyan Elite!! Once again, her swelling pride over-ruled her best judgment. With a swing of her arm, Arashiko backslapped the blue-haired annoyance across her cheek. She felt the impact of cheekbone and flesh upon her knuckles. The strength of the blow alone was only a fraction of her own, but it was enough to throw Bulma off of her feet. She fell a few feet backwards into the ground, unconscious, a small trickle of blood running from her nose and mouth. A few seconds later, something crashed into Arashiko's face, flinging her head back with the force of the impact. Her body was the next one to hit the hard ground. She recovered quickly, fists clenched with incredible anger as she prepared to tear into whoever had hit her. Blood seeped from her mouth and nose and the salty taste of it fueled her temper.  
  
Everything dyed away as she realized it was Vegeta who had hit her. He stood over her, his features darkened with anger.  
  
"No one hurts her like that." He spoke in low, angered tones. Arashiko got to her feet slowly, confusion and disbelief stretching her face into a dejected mask. She shook her head back and forth slowly. She couldn't believe it. He couldn't have hit me?! It can't be... He valued a human over one of his own?? She gave up all her life just to be hurt by the one she gave up everything for??? Arashiko breathed in sharply and took off into the air. Within moments, she was lost in the stars of the night sky.  
  
Vegeta watched her go, he wanted to call out to her, to tell her to wait, but she was already gone. He ran to Bulma's side and held her in his arms. She was still breathing. Vegeta released a sigh of relief, she was only bruised and unconscious. Her eyes fluttered open and she stared at him, her eyes focusing and unfocusing as if in a daze.  
  
"I . . ." Bulma began to talk weakly. Vegeta leaned in closer, holding a caring hand to the side of her face. "I. . .love you. . ." Bulma continued on, half-conscious. Her eyes suddenly opened all the way as she woke up. "Damn you!!" She yelled into Vegeta's face as she punched him on the side of the head. "OW!" Bulma grabbed the throbbing side of her face. "You are going to explain this to me NOW!!!" She said through muffled shouts as Vegeta carried her back to their house.  
  
* * *  
  
It was raining again over the countryside of China. The silver droplets poured over the landscape, lacing everything in a soft phosphorous glow. Arashiko sat, knees pushed up to her chest, on the side of a cliff overlooking a vast emerald forest. She didn't know how far she had flown or where she was. It was a gentle rain. No thunder hindered the soothing rhythm of its pounding. Drops of crimson blood rolled off of her face and fell to the ground, mixing with her tears. Its bitter-sweet taste was all too familiar to her. The blood and the tears swirled together in the little puddle that began to form at her feet. She didn't care if she bled, it didn't matter anymore. Her whole reason for living was crushed. She had come for nothing, she had survived for nothing. The Prince had rejected her utterly. Yet the rhythm of the rain continued, ever soothing, ever continuing. She put her forehead against her arm and let the blood run and the rain beat her back.  
  
"I saw what happened. . ." A kind-hearted voice made her turn. When she realized who it was, she quickly turned from him in disgrace. Trunks came and sat down beside her on the cliff face. He watched her sympathetically with his innocent blue eyes. The wetness plastered his amethyst hair to his cheeks, revealing the handsome features of his face.  
  
"You must think me a monster. . ." Arashiko kept her eyes averted from him. "I've dishonored myself."  
  
"Look at me. . ." He implored her. Arashiko sighed deeply and finally raised her eyes to him. He held her chin up with his fingers. "I don't see a monster." He spoke tenderly to her. He brought his other hand up to her face and wiped away the blood. "There, now you look a little less horrifying." He smiled at her, cerulean eyes gleaming.  
  
Arashiko managed to return his grin with a small smile of her own. Tears still clouded her vision as she gazed at him. She sniffed a couple of times. She didn't like to cry in front of others and she didn't know why she cried in front of him now. She just let all the emotions out. They had been bottled within her soul far too long. Trunks stared at her compassionately and slipped a comforting arm around her. He did the only thing he could. He held her till she stopped crying. The blurry shape of the full moon glimmered through the thin clouds and bounced off the droplets of rain. A couple hours had passed, Arashiko had finally quieted. Her eyes were closed, tired from their outpour of sorrow. Arashiko let one last tear fall as she felt a gentle kiss on her forehead. With that kiss, Trunks got up and started to walk away.  
  
"Listen, if you need a place to stay, I have an apartment not far from here. You can't just sit outside of my father's house all day and I won't let you stay out here."  
  
Arashiko nodded speechlessly and followed him. They disappeared into the star-filled night. The rhythm of the rain continued on, ever soothing, ever continuing.  
  
* * *  
  
"Here, you can sleep back there." Trunks pointed to the small bedroom in the back of the apartment. "I'll err...sleep here on the couch."  
  
Arashiko looked at him and then back at the odd little room with the rectangular piece of furniture in it. She flopped down on the bed and crumpled up into a ball. She didn't bother taking off her armor, she was tired, so very tired of everything.  
  
Trunks's eyes widened a little as he suddenly realized that there was actually a girl on his bed. He stared at her for awhile and then turned around to go to sleep on the uncomfortable little gray couch.  
  
Arashiko finally gained peace of mind in the nothing that was a dreamless night. She could lose herself in those empty nights where no dreams, memories of the past, haunted her spirit. They were always short, those scattered moments of peace. Inevitably, the suns rays brushed her eyelids and woke her, filling the nothingness of a dreamless night with the reality of the waking world. She looked around the cozy little apartment, almost forgetting where she was. Trunks was gone. She stood up in the bed and stretched, everything was so strange, the future was uncertain. A piece of sky blue paper caught her eye. It was lying on the bed next to her. Writing was scribbled upon its smooth surface. Arashiko picked it up and read it.  
  
"Stay as long as you need to. There's food in the fridge.  
  
If only I could take away all your pain.  
  
You wouldn't have to cry anymore."  
  
Arashiko held the paper in her palm and smiled sweetly. Somewhere within her, she could feel herself melting.  
  
What a brave new world that has such people in it. Maybe there is hope after all...  
  
FINIS 


End file.
